The Supreme Court has begun hearing the government’s appeals against the annulment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendments. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been presented in court via video link.
A five-member larger bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, is hearing the case, with Justice Aminuddin, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah, and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi as part of the bench.
It is noteworthy that during the hearing on May 30 in the Supreme Court on petitions against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendments, former Prime Minister Imran Khan had stated that he was being kept in solitary confinement. On this, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked in the last hearing that if ordinances are to be issued, then the parliament should be closed.
At the start of the hearing of the NAB amendment case in the Supreme Court, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was presented in court via video link. Imran Khan was wearing a blue shirt and remained present during the hearing, which lasted for about two and a half hours. On May 14, the Supreme Court had allowed former Prime Minister Imran Khan to appear via video link during the hearing against the annulment of the National Accountability Bureau amendments.
It is worth mentioning that on September 15 last year, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had delivered a reserved judgment on the petition filed by former Prime Minister and Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan, against the NAB amendments, declaring several clauses null and void. In its decision, the Supreme Court had reinstated corruption cases against individuals holding public offices while allowing NAB to investigate corruption cases involving amounts less than 500 million rupees.
According to the decision, not only were the cases reinstated, but the inquiries and investigations were also restored. The decision also reinstated the cases that were declared void by NAB courts after the amendments.
Additionally, the Supreme Court ordered that all corruption cases dismissed under the annulled clauses be refiled in accountability courts within a week. The decision stated that under the annulled clauses, NAB should proceed under the NAB law, and the amendments regarding assets beyond means would remain applicable to government officials. The amendments related to plea bargaining were declared null and void.
The decision nullified the orders issued by accountability courts in light of the NAB amendments. Subsequently, on October 17, the federal government challenged the Supreme Court’s September 15 decision, which had declared the NAB amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) illegal.
