• SC of Pakistan adjourned the hearing on the plea of PTI against the NAB amendments
• Justice Ijazul Ahsan questioned in regards to the conviction and crime of the plea-bargainer
• He maintained that he is confound at how a law ends the conviction of an accused

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan adjourned the hearing on the plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendments.

Supreme Court’s five-member bench heard the case and Khuwaja Haris appeared before the court on behalf of PTI.

At the outset of hearing, Justice Ijazul Ahsan questioned in regards to the conviction and crime of the plea-bargainer. To which Khawaja Haris assented and maintained that the new amendments will abolish both the punishment and guilt of the plea-bargainer.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan maintained that he is confound at how a law ends the conviction of an accused and if this happens then the culprit would be able to work somewhere else.

Khuwaja Haris said that before the amendments plea-bargain allowed only the abolishment of punishment, not the guilt.

Meanwhile, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah argued that when the crime ended then how a person can remain a criminal? He while elaborating on the example of the punishment of a murderer said that in such cases, settlement with the heirs of the deceased ends the punishment of the killer then it is a lesser crime as compared to that.

During the hearing, NAB submitted the details of plea bargains in the last 21 years.

On this occasion, the Chief Justice inquired from the NAB Prosecutor how many cases have been returned from the courts so far, to which the NAB Prosecutor replied that 219 cases have been returned.

The NAB prosecutor said that the number may have reached 280 so far. The data was taken at the beginning of the case and all the cases are coming back to the NAB which will be looked into by the committee.

After the arguments, the hearing was adjourned till Monday.

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