The Islamabad High Court has moved ahead on an IHC NAB remand appeal that questions raising the maximum physical remand of accused persons from 14 to 40 days under a NAB ordinance. On 27 October in Islamabad, the court issued notices to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB, Pakistan’s anti-corruption body) and other respondents, and also notified the Attorney General for Pakistan, asking for his assistance.
What the division bench heard
A two-judge bench of Justice Muhammad Azam Khan and Justice Muhammad Asif took up the intra-court appeal against a single-bench decision. Advocate Muhammad Azhar Siddique represented the appellant, Najeebullah.
Physical remand is the period when an accused person remains in investigators’ custody rather than in jail under judicial custody. The challenge centres on an ordinance that, counsel said, stretched that maximum from 14 days to 40 days.
The single bench had earlier closed the related petition as infructuous — meaning it no longer needed a decision — after Parliament did not ratify the ordinance. The present appeal asks the higher bench to revisit that path.
Why the appellant says the dispute is not over
During the hearing, Siddique argued that the NAB ordinance had been brought in for a particular individual: the founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). He said the measure itself lengthened the outer limit of physical remand from 14 to 40 days.
He further maintained that the ordinance’s expiry did not clear the legal question about whether steps taken while it was in force were valid. In other words, the defence position is that the IHC NAB remand appeal still raises live issues about past custody powers, not only about a law that is no longer on the books.
What happens next
After the notices went out, the court put off further proceedings until the third week of November. NAB, the other respondents, and the Attorney General are expected to place their responses before the bench when the matter returns.
Until then, the Islamabad High Court has not decided the merits of the challenge. The IHC NAB remand appeal remains at the notice-and-assistance stage, with the next sitting listed for mid-November.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Islamabad High Court ne NAB aur Attorney General se jawab maanga hai. Masla yeh hai ke NAB ordinance ke under physical remand 14 se 40 din kar diya gaya tha. Appellant ke wakeel kehte hain ke yeh qanoon khatam hone ke baad bhi us waqt ke actions ka sawal baqi hai. Agli sunwai November ke teesre hafte hogi.
