ISLAMABAD: The three-member bench of Supreme Court on Wednesday observed that the court never questioned the competence or ability of the parliament as the court had struck down legislation against fundamental rights but had never stated that parliament lacked competence.
A three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah was hearing former prime minister Imran Khan’s petition challenging amendments in the National Accountability (NAB) Ordinance by the government.
During the course of proceedings, Imran Khan’s counsel Khawaja Haris continued his arguments on the 20th hearing and said that a public official was a holder of public trust and accountable. If a public official committed corruption, public trust was undermined, he added.
He argued that he was talking about the constitution and not on assumptions, saying it was responsibility of the court to protect fundamental human rights.
Khawaja Haris said that the Contempt of Court Act was brought in 2012 which was invalidated by the Supreme Court. The contempt of court law was struck down by the court on the incompetence of the legislators regarding violation of human rights, he added.
To this, Justice Ijazul Ahsan inquired that he (Haris) was trying to say that the law made against basic human rights could be thrown away on the incompetence of parliamentarians.
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that the contempt of court law was invalidated not because of incompetence but because of partiality.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah asked where it was written that the law was invalidated due to lack of competence of parliamentarians. The court had struck down legislation against fundamental rights but had never stated that parliament lacked competence, he added.
He said that the court never questioned the competence or ability of the parliament.
Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that it was not written anywhere but it was a matter of understanding, in the case of fake bank accounts, fundamental human rights were linked to public trust, while the NAB case was different.
To this, Imran Khan’s lawyer Khawaja Haris said that now the court should see whether basic human rights were to be protected or not. Subsequently, the court adjourned the case hearing till Thursday (today).
