The top court says Imran Khan hasfailed to prove that the NAB amendments are unconstitutional
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Sept 6th, 2024) The Supreme Court has announced its reserved verdict in the NAB Amendments case, granting the government's appeals.
The Supreme Court's ruling included an additional note by Justice Athar Minallah, where he stated that the Federal government's appeal is not maintainable.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court accepted the government's appeals in the NAB Amendments case and declared the amendments valid, restoring the NAB amendments made by the former PDM government.
The court also invalidated the majority decision of former Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and resigned judge Ejaz-ul-Ahsan. The court ruled that the decision to reinstate the amendments was unanimous.
The Chief Justice of Pakistan mentioned that Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi added additional notes to the ruling.
The Supreme Court's unanimous decision stated that the role of the Chief Justice and Supreme Court judges is not to act as gatekeepers for Parliament. Constitutional institutions should respect each other, and legislation by Parliament should not be declared void. However, this does not imply that unconstitutional legislation would not be invalidated. Imran Khan, it said, failed to prove that the NAB amendments were unconstitutional.
Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi mentioned that he will provide separate reasons for reinstating the amendments.
It is worth noting that the federal government had filed an intra-court appeal against the NAB amendments case decision. The Supreme Court had previously nullified the NAB amendments by a 2-1 majority in response to the founder of PTI's appeal. A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court had reserved the decision on June 6.
The case regarding the NAB amendments, filed by Imran Khan, was heard by a larger bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa. The bench also included Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah, and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi.
SC written order
Later, the Supreme Court issued a written decision regarding the intra-court appeals in the NAB Amendments case. The 16-page judgment was authored by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, stating that the NAB law was enacted by former Army Chief Pervez Musharraf just 34 days after forcibly taking power.
The judgment held that Pervez Musharraf overthrew the constitutional democratic order and legislated for his own benefit. He removed those judges from the superior judiciary who did not extend his unconstitutional actions.
The preamble of the NAB law, drafted during the Musharraf era, stated that its purpose was to curb corruption. However, politicians and political parties that joined Musharraf were acquitted. The real purpose of the NAB law was political victimization and engineering.
The court further remarked that the Supreme Court should aim to maintain legislation rather than hastily strike it down. If a law has two interpretations, the one favoring the law should be accepted.
The SC ruled that the petition and previous Supreme Court decision were not in accordance with the Constitution. In this case, too, they were not convinced that the amendments were unconstitutional.
Many of these amendments were initiated by Imran Niazi himself. The founder of PTI did not file the petition in good faith.
Justice Athar Minallah's additional note
In his additional note, Justice Athar Minallah agreed with the Chief Justice's decision, holding that the government's appeals are not maintainable under the Practice and Procedure Law.
The government's intra-court appeals are rejected while the affected parties' intra-court appeals are accepted. The decision against the NAB amendments is nullified. He ruled that the judges and members of the armed forces are not exempt from the NAB law. The detailed reasons for this additional note would be issued later.
