Does NAB have the authority to arrest Hamza Shehbaz?

A team of NAB returned to Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif’s house to arrest his son on Saturday morning. 

They had raided the house on Friday too but failed to arrest Hamza Shehbaz.

NAB has been investigating Shehbaz and his sons for owning more assets than their known sources of income. It has maintained that it has arrest warrants for Hamza, but this claim has been challenged by PML-N leaders. There has been some confusion because the Lahore High Court had directed NAB to provide Hamza 10 days to approach the appropriate legal forum if his arrest warrants are issued.

The Supreme Court, in another order, said that NAB no longer needs to tell people in advance about their arrests. An examination of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, revealed that NAB can arrest any person without informing them, the court said.

Related: NAB reaches Shehbaz Sharif’s Lahore house to arrest Hamza

“It’s written in the [National Accountability Ordinance] that NAB has the authority to detain any person they have found solid proof against,” former attorney general Irfan Qadir told SAMAA TV.

LHC had given a very specific order, said Qadir. He said that NAB should have referred to the high court and gotten a clarification if the Supreme Court’s ruling also applies to the case of Hamza.

It is important to understand that NAB has its own provisions. The chairperson decides if the body should arrest a person or not, he explained.

There are, however, some cases in which arrests occur. Those suspects are usually arresting who have been unresponsive to the summons or those who have been harassing NAB officials. “NAB can even arrest someone if it fears that the person will run away,” Qadir said.

He pointed out that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was not arrested by NAB when it was investigating him. Nawaz was only arrested after being convicted by an accountability court, he added.

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Article source: https://www.samaa.tv/news/2019/04/does-nab-have-the-authority-to-arrest-hamza-shehbaz/