A top court five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa again has taken up the case today
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-June 6th, 2024) The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday resumed its hearings on a series of intra-court appeals challenging the reversal of amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law.
A SC five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and comprising Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah, and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi took up the case.
Imran Khan, the imprisoned founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), attended the proceedings via video link from Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. His request for an in-person appearance in the case remains under consideration by the court.
In the previous hearing, Khan discussed his difficulties in accessing legal assistance with Chief Justice Isa, citing isolation and lack of resources to prepare his case. Chief Justice Isa emphasized the importance of access to legal counsel and allowed Khan's lawyer, Khawaja Haris, to meet with him in jail.
The amendments to the accountability laws were enacted in 2022 under the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government.
The amendments to the NAB Ordinance (NAO) 1999 included reducing the terms of the NAB chairman and prosecutor general to three years, limiting NAB's jurisdiction to cases involving amounts exceeding Rs500 million, and transferring all pending inquiries, investigations, and trials to relevant authorities. Imran Khan challenged these amendments in the Supreme Court.
In September 2023, the Supreme Court upheld Khan's petition contesting the amendments. Under former Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, along with Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Ijazul Ahsan, the court held over 50 hearings.
By a majority decision of 2-1, the court reinstated corruption cases against public officials that had been closed due to the amendments, ordering the reopening of all cases valued at less than Rs500 million. The amendments were declared null and void.
This ruling has significant implications, as it means the resumption of cases against several prominent political figures, including the Toshakhana reference involving PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari, and former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, as well as the LNG reference against former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and the rental power reference against another former premier, Raja Pervez Ashraf.
The Federal government filed appeals against the Supreme Court's ruling after the verdict.
