NAB amendments: SC fixes Imran Khan’s plea for hearing

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday will hear the plea filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan against the amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) on March 16, ARY News reported.

A three-member special bench of the apex court, comprised of the Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, heard the case.

It is pertinent to mention here that in May, the National Assembly approved amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 in a bid to curtail the powers of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)

The bill was tabled by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar who said that multiple amendments were made in the accountability Ordinance to clip the powers exercised by the accountability bureau.

Sharing details of the key amendments, he said that after fresh amendments, no arrests could be made before completion of the investigation process, and the suspect will have the right to obtain bail while 90-day remand is also abolished.

“90-day remand is for terrorists and we have now reduced the duration of remand to 14 days,” he said and added that no defamation campaign could be carried out unless the suspect is convicted in the case. The case could not be used for political purposes in the assets beyond means case, he said.