Supreme Court Restores NAB Amendments

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday restored the amendments to the NAB Amendments, accepting the intra-court appeals filed by the federal government. The judgment reverses the earlier decision declaring the amendments unconstitutional.

A five-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justices Athar Minallah, Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Hasan Azhar Rizvi, delivered the unanimous 5-0 verdict. The ruling reinstates the NAB amendments that had previously been struck down by the apex court in a 2-1 decision on an appeal filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.

Justice Athar Minallah also included an additional note with the judgment, further supporting the decision to restore the amendments.

The federal and provincial governments had filed intra-court appeals following the court’s earlier ruling, which had deemed the amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws unconstitutional. The verdict on these appeals had been reserved since June 6.

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Key Amendments to the NAB Laws

The restored amendments to the NAB laws introduce several significant changes. The key modifications include restricting the accountability bureau’s authority to investigate graft cases involving amounts less than Rs500 million. Additionally, the NAB’s powers to probe fraud cases have been curtailed, limiting its jurisdiction to cases with more than 100 victims.

The amendments also reduced the duration an accused can be kept in NAB custody, initially limiting it to 14 days and later extending it to a maximum of 30 days. Furthermore, the amendments bar the anti-corruption watchdog from taking action on matters related to federal, provincial, or local taxes.