The Pakistani government alters the anti-corruption legislation overnight
In the hours leading up to former prime minister Imran Khan’s Tuesday hearing before the nation’s top anti-graft investigative body, Pakistan’s government changed the anti-corruption laws over night to make them stricter.
In order to give the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) the authority to arrest a suspect during an investigation period and to allow the NAB court to remand a suspect for 30 days in custody after arrest instead of the previous 15 days, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, who is serving in the capacity of acting president in the absence of President Arif Alvi, who is away on pilgrimage, issued an ordinance.
On the suggestion of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the decree was issued.
“The recommendation made by the prime minister in summary paragraph 6 is approved. An announcement with Sanjrani’s signature said, “The National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, is signed and promulgated.”
shortly hours before Khan was scheduled to appear before the NAB, the adjustments were made shortly before midnight.
As both were scheduled to appear before the NAB in the Al-Qadir Trust case, Khan, 70, and his wife Bushra Bibi travelled from Lahore to Islamabad, according to a WhatsApp message from his media team.
According to the Al-Qadir Trust case, the PTI leader and his wife bought property and millions of rupees from a real estate company in exchange for legalising Rs 50 billion that the UK had discovered and returned to Pakistan during the previous administration headed by Khan.
The Al-Qadir Trust case involves at least Rs 50 billion in fraud. Khan has asserted that he has done nothing wrong and said that the government is pursuing him for political gain.
It’s interesting to note that the same administration had previously altered the NAB statute to shorten the remand time from the initial 90 days to only 14. However, it once again increased the remand period to 30 days.
The NAB regulations have generated a lot of controversy since previous administrations have used them to stifle dissent. The NAB held many current Cabinet members, including Prime Minister Sharif, for months due to allegations of corruption while Khan was the prime minister.
