The Supreme Court reinstated the amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Act and approved the federal government’s internal appeal against the repeal of the amendments.
The verdict, delivered by a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, overturns an earlier decision by a two-judge bench that struck down the amendments.
The court decided unanimously, the verdict was delivered by Chief Justice Isa. The Supreme Court said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan failed to prove that the amendments to the NAB order were unconstitutional and said constitutional institutions should respect each other’s mandates.
“The Chief Justice and the judges of the Supreme Court are not the guardians of Parliament,” the judgment said.
The CJP also said that a five-judge bench, which also included Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, gave a consensus decision to restore the amendments. He said that Justice Minallah and Justice Rizvi had written additional notes on the main decision.
According to the ruling, Justice Minallah reinstated the amendments regarding the private suspects’ appeal, while also noting that the federal government has no standing to file an intra-judicial appeal as only the aggrieved party has the right to do so.
Justice Rizvi said he would give separate reasons to support the restoration of the amendments.
The Supreme Court held that the legislation of Parliament should not be declared void without reason, which also does not mean that the law cannot be struck down even if it is inconsistent with the Constitution. “If the law is in conflict with the Constitution, the court can declare it invalid,” declared the ÚS.
On June 6, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on the government’s internal appeals challenging the reversal of changes to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) rules. A five-member larger bench headed by CJP Isa heard the case and the proceedings were conducted through video link.
During the hearing, Assistant Judicial Magistrate Farooq H Naik delivered his written submissions. CJP Isa asked if Naik supported the decision, to which Naik mentioned support for Justice Mansoor Ali Shah’s remark.
PTI founder Imran Khan’s lawyer Khawaja Haris approached the court and pointed out the violation of fundamental rights in the main case. Lawyer Khawaja Haris pointed out that the NAB amendments violate Articles 9, 14, 25 and 24 of the Constitution.
Former prime minister Imran Khan said the NAB amendments would make his job easier, but stressed the need to address the country’s bankruptcy. Appearing via video link, Khan suggested that the Supreme Court appoint the NAB chairman, citing that the office was not under his control even during his tenure. He also referred to the judiciary as the “third referee”.
Justice Athar Minallah pointed out that there seemed to be no justification for Imran Khan to want to withdraw the amendments. He asked if Khan had considered his remark regarding NAB and what action he had taken.
Expressing frustration, the PTI founder said, “After what NAB has done to me in just five days, its credibility is questionable.”
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