NAB law amendment shifts final appeals in Imran Khan cases to Constitutional Court

ISLAMABAD: A recent amendment to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law has moved final appellate jurisdiction in accountability cases from the Supreme Court to the newly established Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), a change that carries major implications for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s pending NAB matters.

Under the National Accountability Bureau (Amendment) Act, 2026, a new Section 32A has been inserted, naming the FCC as the forum for second appeals against high court rulings in NAB cases. The change means that if a conviction in a NAB reference is upheld by a high court, the final statutory appeal will now lie before the Constitutional Court rather than the Supreme Court.

The newly added provision states, "32A Second Appeal. Any person convicted or the Prosecutor General Accountability, if so directed by the NAB chairman, aggrieved by the decision made by the High Court under section 32, may prefer a second appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court within a period of thirty days."

Implications for pending cases

The amendment affects not only the £190 million Al-Qadir Trust case but any other case involving Imran Khan that falls within NAB’s jurisdiction. The PTI leadership is aware that the final stage of such cases will now be heard by the Constitutional Court.

If a high court upholds a conviction against the former prime minister in any NAB reference, including the £190 million case, his last legal remedy under the statute would be before the FCC. Under the previous legal arrangement, litigants could challenge a high court decision in the Supreme Court.

PTI sources view the amendment as Imran Khan-specific and significant because his legal future is closely tied to the outcome of ongoing accountability proceedings. The £190 million case is regarded as the most serious corruption prosecution facing the former premier, with consequences for both his criminal liability and political future.

Judicial restructuring

The amendment is described as one of the first major transfers of appellate jurisdiction from the Supreme Court to the FCC following the constitutional restructuring of the superior judiciary.

While the change does not alter the substantive law on corruption offences or the legal grounds on which a conviction may be challenged, it changes the forum that will serve as the final authority in NAB conviction matters. For Imran Khan, the immediate effect is that any final legal contest arising from an adverse high court ruling in a NAB case would now be heard by the Federal Constitutional Court.