On Thursday, in Imran Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) petition against Amendment in the NAB Ordinance that will take effect in 2023 the Chief Justice of Pakistan observed that “several good amendments have been introduced” as well, but regretted that not only were there “inconsistencies” between laws but that the CJP’s powers had been reduced to a rubber stamp. The three-member bench included Chief Justice, Justice Ijazul Ahsen, and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Umer Ata Bandial further stated that the actual question was who was being targeted and by whom, and that “we will have to look into this aspect” when defending the hearing of the current case under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. The CJ said, “Who benefited through this law and who was affected; This is the main issue,” adding that corruption had damaged society while making life tough for regular people.
In addition to requesting a quantity of cases that were transferred from the NAB courts following the contested revisions, the court requested a new list of those who benefited from the NAO 1999 amendments.
Justice Mansoor noted during the hearing that no financial institution, individual, or political party had come to the court to protest the NAB modifications. The judge remarked, “One runaway politician approached the court, challenging the NAB amendments,” adding that since the beginning of the current case, he had repeatedly asked the petitioner’s counsel what fundamental rights of individuals had been violated by this piece of legislation, but no response had been given so far.
The CJP added that some procedural and significant changes had been made to the NAB law in 2023, while exemption was given to some accused in cases, for example, less than Rs500 million corruption excluded from the NAB jurisdiction. The petitioner’s counsel had also argued that accountability also falls under the purview of basic fundamental rights. The CJP stated, “We are not arguing that the entire law was improper since there have been some excellent adjustments made to the law as well, such scrapping the 90-day remand and granting the accused the opportunity to appeal, which safeguard fundamental rights. “But we have to examine as to how many people were given relief through these amendments and who are the beneficiaries,” the chief justice said.
