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The current administration accepted Aftab Sultan"s appointment as chair of the National Accountability Bureau on Thursday. Sultan was formerly the general secretary of the intelligence bureau (NAB).

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a federal cabinet meeting was conducted where a number of topics were discussed, including the acceptance of former DGIB Aftab Sultan as the NAB"s new chairman.

The Pakistan People"s Party proposed the name of Aftab Sultan, an officer with a solid reputation for being trustworthy (PPP). He formerly held the positions of commandant of the National Police Academy and inspector general of the Punjab police.

Both his mother-in-law and father-in-law had served the National Assembly twice. Aftab, a native of Faisalabad, began his career with the Pakistani Police Service in 1977 as an assistant superintendent in the Punjab police.

Prior to this, the federal cabinet had approved significant revisions to the accountability laws, limited the anti-graft watchdog"s authority, prohibited agency surveillance, and removed the president"s authority to name accountability judges.

Additionally, the National Accountability (third amendment) bill, 2020, states that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is not allowed to look into cases involving less than Rs 500 million and establishes the threshold for a suspicious financial transaction. The bill also requires the NAB to disclose the reason for an arrest at the time of the arrest and gives it the authority to release or acquit an accused at any time.