- The government filed an appeal under Section 5 of the SC Act.
- A larger five-member bench will hear the case next week.
- Supreme Court issued notice to lawyers.
ISLAMABAD: A larger bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faiz Isa will on October 31 (Tuesday) hear the federal government’s intra-court appeal challenging the apex court’s decision to strike down the accountability law amendments.
A three-judge larger bench of the apex court – headed by then Chief Justice Omar Ata Bandial and Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah – had on September 15 reinstated the corruption cases against public office by a majority of 2-1. Had done it. -The holders rejected certain amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999 by the PDM government, declaring it against the rights related to public interest enshrined in the Constitution.
Subsequently, the federal government filed an appeal under Section 5 of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023 against the top court order.
A larger five-member bench headed by CJP Qazi Faiz Isa and comprising Justice Amin-ud-din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minullah and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi will hear the government’s appeal.
The apex court has also issued a notice to the lawyers.
The government had argued that the top court had exceeded its powers by striking down a law passed by Parliament and amending the NAB law.
It was further argued that Parliament is competent to make laws and has made a law amending the NAB law.
“If any law is repugnant to the fundamental rights of citizens, the court can strike it down,” she argued but also said that the amendments made to the NAB law have no impact on the fundamental rights of citizens.
Following the verdict, NAB reopened cases against political bigwigs, including former prime ministers.
In June last year, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan had filed a petition in the top court under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution praying to strike down the amendments as they were “beyond the scope of the Constitution”. Was done.
Amendments made to the NAB law were rejected by the court, including limiting the NAB’s jurisdiction to cases involving more than Rs 500 million and an amendment that barred the accused from claiming plea money deposited after acquittal. Was allowed to do so.
The judgment written by former CJP Bandial declared Imran Khan’s petition maintainable as it violates Articles 9, 14, 24 (protection of property rights) and 25 (equality of citizens) of the Constitution and affects the public at large. Done because illegal diversion of state resources from public development projects for private use leads to poverty, deterioration in quality of life and injustice.
