Apex court wants to conclude NAB amendments case early: CJP

Supreme Court seeks fresh list of beneficiaries of NAB amendments,

ISLAMABAD_ Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial on Wednesday observed that the top court wanted to conclude cases pertaining to the NAB amendments as soon as possible. He was heading the three-member bench, comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, which heard the case. At the outset of hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan said that he had not stated that ‘there was a flaw in the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act’, rather he was of the view that it was similar to the Supreme Court Review Act. The chief justice remarked that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had withdrawn corruption cases of less than Rs 500 million. “Under which law this policy has been adopted?” he asked.

He observed that in the NAB amendments carried out in 2022, the arrest of accused at inquiry stage was excluded but in July 2023 the respective clause had been included in the law again, which was aimed at tightening the grip against politicians. CJP Bandial said that it had to be viewed that who had been targeted and for how long. Negotiations were underway some people in matters pertaining to the billions of rupees fraud. He said there was something wrong in the NAB law, due to which the apex court was approached to review it. Whether the Bureau was working to protect the public interest, he questioned. The chief justice said the court had to view the amendments in light of the provisions of Constitution.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah remarked that the NAB amendments were challenged by a person who had quit the Parliament. Fundamental rights had been clearly defined in the Imrana Tiwana case, adding that the top court had conducted some 50 hearings but no answer had been received regarding the impacts of NAB amendments on basic rights. He said the amendments were not challenged by any citizen. He asked that whether the limit of Rs 500 million in NAB cases was fixed to book only big fish or whether the people committing corruption of less amount were honoured. The chief justice asked lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan to give arguments on Thursday regarding application of the NAB amendments from the past,

Supreme Court sought a list of beneficiaries of the NAB amendments, A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Ijazul Ahsan on Wednesday heard a petition filed by PTI Chairman Imran Khan challenging the amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO). At the outset of the hearing, Chief Justice Bandial inquired of the NAB to inform the court as to how many references were returned after the amendments were made to the NAO. The NAB submitted one report in December and another in January.

‘Amendments have made it difficult to prove some crimes’

The chief justice remarked that the important point in this case is that the entire law has been falsified. In practice, many of the offences in this case were either expunged or the evidentiary procedure was altered by the amendments, he added.

The top judge went on to say that the process of evidence was made very difficult, immunity was also given through the NAB amendments and a limit of Rs500 million was set.

Chie Justice Bandial observed that the crimes eliminated by the amendments are still crimes under other laws. He remarked that many crimes have been abolished by the amendments, the nature of some has been changed. He said that the NAB amendments have made it very difficult to prove some crimes. By making the minimum limit of Rs500 million, many cases have been taken out of the jurisdiction of the NAB, he added.

The top judge remarked that NAB prepares several cases against the same accused in which there are hundreds of witnesses. Because of hundreds of witnesses, NAB cases continue for many years. Even so, at least the person responsible should be identified and punished.

It is true that there are many flaws in the NAB law and it has not been applied correctly, but the court cannot determine that setting a limit of Rs500 million is correct or not, the chief justice remarked.

CJP Bandial asked the attorney general to satisfy the court that no crime has been abolished. He said that many good amendments have also been made such as right of appeal, bail, and remand, adding that all these amendments were made on the basis of humanity because people used to languish in jails for years without sentence.