APROPOS Idrees Khawaja`s article `A flawed choice` (Oct 6). The assumptions, conclusions and working of plea bargain by the writer are baseless. It is the legitimate right of an accused to take benefit of the National Audit Office sections as enshrined in the law, passed by legislators and twice validated by the Supreme Court of Pakistan once in 2003 and then in 2013.

In a plea bargain,15pe service charges are levied over and above the illegal money,and the person short of jail sentence stands convicted. Debarred, removed from office, disqualified for 10 years he cannot take benefit from financial institutions. Lest we forget the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has never accepted the voluntary return of any bureaucrat who could get involved in corruption again.

Please ask legislators to amend the law, else NAB using due diligence is performing well within the ambit of the law. That is the reason no court verdict against voluntary return or plea bargain has ever come on record so far.

Brig ( r) Muhammad Musaddiq Abbasi Former DirectorGeneral, NAB Islamabad