ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's accountability watchdog has decided in principle to revive corruption charges against prominent political figures, including ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari after the Supreme Court scrapped the recent amendments to anti-graft laws.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted a record of graft cases to accountability courts, asking them to reopen corruption cases involving amounts less than Rs 500 million, the Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday. Last week, Pakistan's Supreme Court scrapped the recent amendments to the country's anti-graft laws, restoring corruption cases against public office holders, including former president Asif Ali Zardari and ex-premiers Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Yusuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

Among other things, the amendments limited the jurisdiction of the NAB to cases involving over Rs 500 million. According to the report, the accountability watchdog wrote to the Federal Investigation Agency, anti-corruption departments in all provinces, banking courts, and the police, asking them to return all cases referred to these departments following the new amendments.

The NAB is expected to submit the record of all cases to the court in the next two days in order to resume hearings, Economy.pk news portal reported.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) submitted a record of graft cases to accountability courts, asking them to reopen corruption cases involving amounts less than Rs 500 million