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The government, late on Monday, amended the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law through an ordinance allowing the watchdog to detain suspects for up to 30 days over “non-cooperation” with investigations.
A notification issued by Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, who signed the ordinance as the acting president, states that the National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 had been promulgated. Per the amendment, the duration of physical remand has been increased from 15 to 30 days. Last year, the incumbent government had amended the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 to reduce the duration of physical remand from 90 to 14 days.
According to the ordinance, the NAB chairman has also been empowered to issue arrest warrants for any accused over non-cooperation during investigations.
The presidential ordinance was issued a few hours after the National Assembly was prorogued on Monday evening; it had earlier been adjourned till July 17 after the passage of the finance bill on June 24. Legally, no ordinance can be promulgated while Parliament is in session.
While there has been no indication from the government on the urgency necessitating an ordinance to amend NAB’s duration of remand, it does not bode well for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, who are both facing NAB inquiries. Both Khan and Bushra have been summoned by NAB Rawalpindi today (Tuesday) in two different cases. The PTI chief has been directed to appear for the Toshakhana case, while Bushra Bibi is wanted for questioning in a £190 million National Crime Agency U.K. settlement case.
Both Khan and Bushra have already been summoned thrice in these cases but they skipped all previous appearance and sought fresh dates.