The National Reconciliation Ordinance 2007 contains seven sections most of which are an amendment of National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, 1999. Subsection 2 of section 2 says
'The Federal Government or a Provincial Government may, before the judgment is pronounced by a trial court, withdraw from the prosecution of any person including an absconding accused who is found to be falsely involved for political reasons or through political victimization in any case initiated between 1st day of January, 1986 to 12th day of October, 1999.'
Subsection 3 says
'For the purposes of exercise of powers under sub-section (2) the Federal Government and the Provincial Government may each constitute a Review Board to review the entire record of the case and furnish recommendations as to their withdrawal or otherwise.'
After reading these two provisions one must think about the role of judiciary itself. The federal and the provincial governments are being given the power to withdraw any case pending in the court if they find the accused to be falsely involved for political reasons. Now this is exactly what the role of judiciary is. Wether the accused is falsely involved or otherwise will be decided by the court and this is why the accused were tried. Why does the federal and the provincial governments have to intervene? What is the role of judiciary then? And secondly why specifically from the period of 1986 to 1999? Were people falsely involved only in this period? Before 1986 and after 1999 the crimes were genuine crimes? Then the federal and the provincial governments can constitute a Review Board to review the entire record of the case. Again this is the job of the courts. The federal and the provincial governments have more important things to do.
Section 7 says:
Withdrawal and termination of prolonged pending proceedings initiated prior to 12th October, 1999.
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Ordinance or any other law for the time being in force, proceedings under investigation or pending in any court including a High Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan initiated by or on a reference by the National Accountability Bureau inside or outside Pakistan, requests for mutual assistance and civil party to proceedings initiated by the Federal Government before the 12th day of October, 1999 against holders of public office stand withdrawn and terminated with immediate effect and such holders of public office shall also not be liable to any action in future as well under this Ordinance for acts having been done in good faith before the said date;
Provided that those proceedings shall not be withdrawn and terminated which relate to cases registered in connection with the cooperative societies and other financial and investment companies or in which no appeal, revision or constitutional petition has been filed against final judgment and order of the Court or in which an appellate or revisional order or an order in constitutional petition has become final or in which voluntary return or plea bargain has been accepted by the Chairman, National Accountability Bureau.
(2) No action or claim by way of suit, prosecution, complaint or other civil or criminal proceeding shall lie against the Federal, Provincial or Local Government, the National Accountability Bureau or any of their officers and functionaries for any act or thing done or intended to be done in good faith pursuant to the withdrawal and termination of cases under sub-section (1) unless they have deliberately misused authority in violation of law.
Look what we are doing in the name of national reconciliation. It is a humiliation of the judiciary and NAB. It means the courts have been wasting their time for so long hearing those cases? And why in the first place should the cases be withdrawn and that too against holders of public office. Before october 1999 if any one was murdered, if money was laundered, if corruption was done, are we going to give liberty to people responsible of such acts that easy? We are giving freedom to the obvious beneficiary of this ordinance, the chairperson PPP against whom there are charges of corruption and money laundering in the courts of not only Pakistan but also Switzerland, Poland, France and Middle East. According to this ordinance that was all done in good faith? For a split second if we believe that they are sorry for what they did, what is the guarantee that they will not do it again? Not only this, the government has also exempted itself from any possible trouble by making another provision that no action can be made against the government for withdrawing and terminating such cases.
The minister for information confessed yerterday that it was all done on the demands of the United States. (Nawa-e-waqt) Pakistan is America's.
