Daily Times

An advocate moved a petition on Monday before Lahore High Court challenging the authority of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to arrest a perpetrator before completion of investigation.

Petitioner Counsel AK Dogar stated that arrest of an alleged accused during investigation and trial was inconsistent with the article 10 of the Constitution which safeguards as to arrest and detention for two reasons, first, no person could remain in custody unless he was informed of the grounds of his arrest because grounds could only be established after investigation was completed. He stated that the other was no investigation was constitutionally valid unless an accused had been granted the fundamental right to consult and be defended by a counsel of his own choice.

He stated that NAB had a constitutional obligation not to deny an accused to consult and be defended by a lawyer at the time of investigation. He stated that section 24 (a) and (d) of the NAB Ordinance 1999 was in violation of article 10-A of the Constitution.

He requested to declare section 24 of the NAB Ordinance 1999 as ultra virus of the Constitution and dictum laid down by the Supreme Court in case of Khan Asfandyar Wali vs Federation of Pakistan PLD-2001. He also requested to restrain NAB from arresting citizens under its invalid powers and order release of hundreds of alleged accused persons who have been taken into custody by the anti-corruption watchdog.

Published in Daily Times, December 18^th 2018.