ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday while hearing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s petition against the amendments in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws, directed the accountability watchdog to submit its response over the matter.
A three-member SC bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah heard the case.
During the course of proceedings, Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman said Advocate Makhdoom Ali Khan had been nominated as the federal government’s counsel in the case, who was then granted permission to present his arguments.
Makhdoom Ali Khan said neither the bar councils nor the civil society had raised any objection to the NAB law amendments.
Upon this, Advocate Khawaja Haris, counsel for Imran Khan, pointed out that the Islamabad Bar Council had challenged the amendments in the high court.
Makhdoom said efforts were being made to turn the Supreme Court into the third chamber of parliament. Several NAB cases had been fought over the years and the honourable judges knew what happened in the assets-beyond-means cases, he added.
He said the president, instead of approving the NAB law, had sent a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which included suggestions regarding the amendments. The government had made the letter part of the case too, he added.
Makhdoom said Imran Khan should be asked why he was opposing the amendment now, which he had earlier favoured. If it was a political strategy, he should use another forum instead of the court, he added.
Justice Ijaz said the court was not looking into who had introduced the law, but whether it violated fundamental rights. Justice Mansoor asked the counsel to inform the court how NAB contributed to the economy.
Chief Justice Bandial said the economy was at the brink of collapse today. The court also had to look at the public interest, he added.
