IHC serves notice to NAB regarding accused remand

ISLAMABAD, Apr 02 (APP):The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday issued notices to the federal government and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), seeking their response on a miscellaneous petition challenging the extension of physical remand of accused persons to 40 days under a recent ordinance.
The notices were issued by Justice Inaam Ameen Minhas on a petition filed by citizen Niaz Ullah through Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique.
The petitioner has challenged the ordinance that increased the physical remand period in NAB cases from 14 days to 40 days, terming it questionable. The court has been requested to seek detailed data of all cases where remand exceeded 14 days.
The petitioner also prayed the court to obtain province-wise and bureau-wise data and inquire whether the ordinance was ever presented before Parliament.
According to the petition, despite the passage of time, the required record and compliance with earlier court directions were not provided.
The court has been requested to direct the authorities to present justification, emergency grounds, and reasons behind the issuance of the ordinance, as well as to provide a complete list of cases where physical remand exceeded 14 days under the amended law.
The hearing has been adjourned till next date.