ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s request for live streaming of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendment case hearing.
The SC rejected the request filed by KP advocate general by 4-1 as Justice Athar Minallah dissented with the majority judgement.
The development comes as the SC is hearing the intra-court appeals filed by the federal and provincial governments against the NAB amendments struck down by the apex court.
The case is being heard by a five-member SC larger bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Minallah and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi.
Earlier in the day, Justice Minallah had called for the live streaming of the proceedings of the said case.
“The [hearing of] case should be broadcast live since this was the case before as well,” the judge said.
As the hearing was about to start, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general apprised the court that the provincial government had filed a request seeking a live broadcast of the case.
“This is a case of public interest,” he said.
“This is a technical case and not one of public interest,” CJP Isa said while responding to the KP advocate general’s remarks.
The court then took a break with the judges consulting on the issue of live streaming of the case proceedings.
During the previous hearing on May 16, which wasn’t broadcast live, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) incarcerated founder Imran Khan appeared before the court via video link after the former prime minister expressed his wish to present his own arguments in the case.
It is pertinent to note that the ex-PM’s appearance, his first in the apex court since his arrest last year from Zaman Park in Toshakhana reference, didn’t go without controversy as the SC administration announced launching an investigation after his image, while appearing before the court, was leaked on media.
