Scope of Sections 24(a) and 18(g) of the NAB Ordinance. Permission of the Chairman NAB etc is required before the accused is arrested under the Ordinance.

 Under Section 24(a) of the Ordinance, the Chairman NAB has the power, at any stage, of the inquiry or investigation under the Ordinance, to direct that the accused be arrested, while under Section 24(d) of the Ordinance the officer making the arrest is under an obligation to inform the accused of the grounds and substance on the basis of which he is arrested. The proviso to Section 18(e) of Ordinance mandates that no person shall be arrested without the permission of the Chairman NAB or any officer of NAB duly authorized by him. Collective reading of these provisions show that the permission of the Chairman NAB or any officer of NAB duly authorized by the Chairman NAB must be obtained by the investigating officer before the accused can be arrested, and there must be reasonable grounds and substance on the basis of which permission to arrest is to be granted. Mere filing of the Reference by the Chairman NAB or an officer of the NAB duly authorized by him, under Section 18(g) of the Ordinance, against the accused does not carry an implied permission to arrest the accused. Arrest and filing of the Reference are two independent actions under the Ordinance. The permission to arrest must be express and based on reasonable grounds and substance. In this case, the NAB Prosecutor could not place before us any such permission to arrest the petitioner given by the Chairman NAB or any officer of NAB duly authorized by the Chairman NAB.

NAB/Bail Before Arrest
C.P.4599/2017
Muhammad Ibrahim v. Federation of Pakistan thr. Director General, National Accountability Bureau, Sindh
Mr. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah