The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is exploring a novel legal interpretation aimed at stopping the closure of numerous corruption cases that might otherwise fall outside its jurisdiction due to a recent inflation-linked increase in its financial threshold.
A proposal currently under review within NAB is expected to be presented at the upcoming Executive Board Meeting (EBM) for a policy decision. This initiative seeks to apply the inflation adjustment mechanism—previously used to raise NAB’s jurisdictional threshold from Rs500 million to over Rs800 million—to the value of the alleged loss suffered by victims, whether individuals, public institutions, or the national treasury.
Under this approach, if an accused argues that the alleged corruption amount is now below the inflation-adjusted threshold and thus outside NAB’s jurisdiction, the value of the embezzled or misappropriated funds would also be recalculated using the same inflation formula. This adjustment could significantly increase the present-day value of the loss, potentially bringing the case back within NAB’s authority.
The proposal is grounded in the principle that the inflation amendment should not solely benefit the accused by raising the threshold while disregarding the diminished value of the money lost by victims due to inflation. If approved by the EBM and adopted by NAB, this move could greatly reduce the number of corruption cases dismissed on jurisdictional grounds following the threshold revision.
Previously, the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 was amended to link NAB’s minimum financial threshold of Rs500 million to the inflation index published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, effective from July 1, 2022. Since then, cumulative inflation has pushed the effective threshold beyond Rs800 million. This increase has raised concerns within accountability circles that many inquiries, investigations, and references involving amounts below the new threshold might have to be closed or withdrawn due to lack of jurisdiction.
Rather than seeking another legislative amendment, the new proposal aims to address these concerns through a legal interpretation of the existing statutory provision. However, legal experts caution that this approach could face judicial challenges, as courts will ultimately decide whether inflation adjustments can apply not only to NAB’s jurisdictional threshold but also to the valuation of alleged financial losses in corruption cases.
No final decision has been made yet, and the proposal remains under consideration by NAB’s senior management.
