Karachi citizen files petition against NAB Ordinance 2019

KARACHI: A petition has been filed at the Karachi Registry of the Supreme Court against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Amendment Ordinance 2019.

Petitioner Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi filed it challenging the amended law. The move came after the federal cabinet earlier on Friday approved the NAB Ordinance 2019 promulgated through a presidential ordinance by President Dr. Arif Alvi.

According to the petitioner, all citizens are equal in the constitution of the country, the amended ordinance in violation of the constitution and the fundamental rights of citizens.

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Earlier on Friday, the federal cabinet approved the amendment which stated that the NAB would not take action against the government employees. The property of a public servant cannot be frozen without a court order and if the NAB investigation was not completed within three months, the arrested public servant will be entitled to bail.

The ordinance states that the NAB would only be able to prosecute over 50 million corruption and scams. NAB’s jurisdiction over matters relating to tax, stock exchange, IPOs will be abolished.