National Accountability (Amendment) Acts, 2022–24

What it is

Between 2022 and 2024, Parliament amended the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 several times: two Amendment Acts in 2022, further amendment in 2023, and the National Accountability (Amendment) Act, 2024. Taken together, the amendments narrowed the National Accountability Bureau's reach. NAB's jurisdiction now requires the alleged corruption or corrupt practices to involve at least five hundred million rupees. Matters of federal or provincial taxation, levies and imposts, and decisions of cabinets and their committees, were carved out. The presumption that assets disproportionate to known sources of income establish guilt was removed, plea-bargain and voluntary-return provisions were reworked, and accountability courts were given express jurisdiction to grant bail — ending the practice of routing every bail application to the high courts under Article 199.

The amendments did not have a straight path. In September 2023 the Supreme Court, by majority, struck down core provisions of the 2022 amendments and restored closed inquiries and references against public office holders [CITATION — TO BE VERIFIED]. On intra-court appeal, a larger bench set that judgment aside on 6 September 2024 and restored the amendments [CITATION — TO BE VERIFIED]. The 2024 Amendment Act then made further procedural changes, including to the maximum period of physical remand and to the appointment and tenure of accountability court judges [the precise remand period and appointment provisions TO BE VERIFIED BY REVIEWING LAWYER].

What changed

As of mid-2026, the amended Ordinance governs, and its practical effect has been a redistribution of cases. References and inquiries below the five-hundred-million-rupee threshold, or falling within the new exclusions, have been returned or transferred to other forums — the Federal Investigation Agency, provincial anti-corruption establishments, and the ordinary criminal courts — and a substantial volume of pending matters was remitted in both directions as the 2023 and 2024 judgments took effect. Whether any further amendment or restructuring of the accountability framework is pending before Parliament as of mid-2026 should be confirmed [TO BE VERIFIED BY REVIEWING LAWYER].

Who is affected

Current and former holders of public office, civil servants, and the private persons alleged to have acted in concert with them remain the core addressees. Businesses that transact with the state — in procurement, concessions, privatisations or regulated approvals — are affected because the forum and the exposure for any allegation now depend on the amount involved and on whether the impugned decision was a cabinet, tax or regulatory matter. Anyone with a pending NAB inquiry, investigation or reference is affected by the transfers between forums.

What to do

For any pending or threatened matter, first fix the jurisdictional facts: the amount alleged, whether the subject decision falls within the carve-outs, and which forum now holds the file after the post-2024 transfers. Reassess bail strategy in light of the accountability courts' express bail jurisdiction and the amended remand provisions. Where a reference was returned or transferred, obtain and preserve the complete procedural history — limitation, double-jeopardy and re-filing questions turn on it. Before advising on the merits, verify every section number against the Ordinance as it stands amended through 2024; older texts in circulation are unreliable.