President Arif Alvi has returned the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2023, to the parliament for reconsideration. The bill aimed to amend the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) and empower the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairperson to close the inquiries started under any other law. However, President Alvi observed that the amendments to the NAO were sub judice before the Supreme Court and should be reconsidered without considering the implications of the pending matter. The government had agreed to introduce amendments to the NAO and other relevant laws as a condition set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the review of Pakistan’s anti-corruption framework. Earlier, the parliament had passed the NAB (Second Amendment) Bill 2021, which stripped NAB of its powers to act on federal, provincial, or local tax matters, and regulatory bodies were also removed from NAB’s domain. The bill was returned unsigned by President Alvi before it became law, and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had approached the Supreme Court against the bill.
