Pakistan: 10 things you need to know about National Accountability Bureau that has sent Imran Khan to jail

Imran Khan, former prime minister of Pakistan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, was on Tuesday arrested by the cash strapped country’s anti-corruption agency, threatening fresh turmoil in the nuclear-armed country as clashes erupted between PTI supporters and police. The 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician was taken into custody in a clumsy fashion by the paramilitary Rangers on Tuesday on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) by barging into a room of the Islamabad High Court where he came to attend a corruption case hearing. Later on, the court ruled that Imran Khan’s arrest was legal but the way it was carried out was illegal and decided to proceed against the Islamabad police chief and interior secretary. Know all about National Accountability Bureau that has sent Imran Khan to jail - 1) NAB authorities have indicated to present Imran Khan before a court on Wednesday to seek his physical remand in order to further investigate him in the Al-Qadir Trust case allegedly involving more than Rs 50 billion loss to the national exchequer. 2) The agency was established by Pakistan’s former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf on November 16 in 1999. Since then its sphere of operations has been expanded and extended. 3) As per the Constitution of Pakistan, the agency has been granted powers to launch investigations, conduct inquiries, and issues arrest warrants against individuals suspected of financial mismanagement, economic terrorism, corruption, and directs cases to the accountability courts. 4) Nazir Ahmed Butt, retired lieutenant general of the Pakistan Army, currency serves as the NAB chairman. He was appointed by the government on March 4 earlier this year. 5) NAB has its chief headquarters in Islamabad. The agency also has four regional offices in the four provinces, along with the four capital territories of Pakistan. 6) In March earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the NAB to furnish a complete record of recoveries it had made through voluntary returns, or plea bargain, of misappropriated funds over the last decade. Besides this it was also asked to furnish the amount disbursed to the federal and provincial governments. 7) Last month, Pakistan’s National Assembly, in a hurriedly called sitting, had passed the National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2023. As per the bill, all pending inquiries intended to be transferred under sub-section 3 shall be considered by the NAB chief, according to Express Tribune. 8) Pakistan’s main opposition party PTI had approached the Supreme Court against the bill. Back then, Imran Khan argued that the amendments would pave the way for public office-holders to remain unpunished for white-collar crimes. 9) Imran Khan will likely remain under the custody of the National Accountability Bureau for four to five days, as the bureau requests the court for his maximum remand allowed under the law. 10) Under the new amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, the duration of physical remand has been cut from 90 days to 14 days, granted by any court. (With inputs from agencies) Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.