ISLAMABAD The government is considering renaming of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) with fresh legislation because the present name is symbolises an era of `political victimisation` against politicians, it is learnt on Thursday.

A source in the NAB told Dawn on Thursday that a high-powered committee headed by law minister Farooq H Naek has been working to form new structure of the NAB on the pattern of defunct Ehtesab Bureau that was headed by a civilian chairman.

One of the significant aspects of the new legislation bars military officials from becoming its chairman.

After renaming, the NAB may be called National Accountability Commission or National Commission of Accountability, the source said.

Under new legislation the head of the accountability commission would be a retired a judge or a senior lawyer or any civilian to be appointed by the President.

There are reports that government wants to wind up the NAB and establish a similar authority to deal with white collor crime.

The source said a post of deputy chairman NAB which is presently retained by a military official would also be abolished in the new set up.

Presently, the NAB has been facing acute financial crisis and harsh attitude of the government because the leaders of ruling coalition believed that the bureau had been used a tool for their political victimisation in last regime headed by former President Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

The crippling NAB, which was one of the most powerful government organisations in last regime, has no funds to pay salaries to its employees in the next month.

The government is reportedly not releasing the second instalment of budgetary allocation announced for the NAB in the federal budget 2008-09. As a resultf  

It seems that the NAB`s funds were blocked intentionally by the government which believed that it was used as a tool to politically victimised leaders of Pakistan People`s Party (PPP) in the past.

Analysts said the NAB, which is dying its own death, could not take any action against the politicians especially after promulgation of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that not only provide immunity to the politicians involved in corruption cases but barred it from making further cases against them. 

Financial crisis has already pushed the NAB to the verge of collapse and in a bid to survive the much feared bureau is considering laying off 1,350 employees working on contract basis. Whereas, 160 officials of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) who have been working with NAB on deputation, have been repatriated.

The NAB chairman Navaid Ahsan has written a letter to secretary cabinet division demanding remaining amount of Rs300 million out of total Rs450 million allocated in the federal budget 2008-09, a senior official of the NAB who did not want to be named said.

`Initially the NAB had sought a total of Rs950 million in the federal budget but the government cut it by 50 per cent and approved Rs450 million but it has so far received only Rs150 million which will cater its need till September,` the official said.

The NAB has already become toothless since promulgation of National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) under which all politician and bureaucrats involved in corruption cases made before 1999 have been given immunity and in future no corruption case will be registered against them without approval of the parliament.