- May 14, 2024
- Kainat Shakeel
- 0
On Tuesday, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa gave the government instructions to make sure that PTI founder Imran Khan, who is now incarcerated, can participate in court proceedings about modifications to the nation’s accountability laws and present his reasons. The case was heard by a five-member bench that included Justices Aminuddin Khan of the Supreme Court (SC), Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Athar Minallah, and Hasan Azhar Rizvi. The bench was chaired by the chief judge.
The accountability laws of the nation were modified in 2022 by the government, which was led by the Pakistan Democratic Movement at the time. The National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999 underwent several changes as a result of the amendments, including a three-year term limit for the chairman and prosecutor general of the NAB, a restriction on the agency’s jurisdiction to cases involving more than Rs. 500 million, and the transfer of all ongoing inquiries, investigations, and trials to the appropriate authorities. Subsequently, Imran filed a petition in 2022 contesting the alterations, arguing that the NAB statute was changed to the advantage of powerful accused individuals and to justify wrongdoing.
The petition had argued that the recent changes tend to drop corruption proceedings against the prime minister, president, chief ministers, and ministers while giving convicted public office holders a chance to have their convictions overturned. After 53 sessions, during which the members of a three-judge bench argued about the authority of parliament to pass laws with retroactive effect, the Supreme Court has deferred its decision on the issue until September 5, 2023. On September 15, the country’s highest court decided that Imran’s appeal could be sustained and reinstated corruption cases against public office holders that had been dropped following changes to the nation’s accountability rules.
Though earlier proceedings did not meet the requirements of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, CJP Isa had hinted in an October 31, 2023, hearing as the apex court took up intra-court appeals (ICA) against the Sept. 15 judgment that proceedings could be restarted if the council was able to “make a solid case” for the same. The Supreme Court refrained from trial courts from publishing their final orders until the next hearing of the appeals in the case, although refusing to halt proceedings in corruption cases that are now pending in accountability courts.
A private man named Zuhair Ahmed Siddiqui, who was charged with corruption but was not involved in the objections to the NAB amendments case, and several ICAs filed by the federal government also resulted in the apex court being taken over. Additionally, respondent Imran received notices from the bigger bench, albeit they were directed to be conveyed to him through the relevant jail superintendent because he was jailed.