SC reserves verdict on NAB amendments case

The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s petition challenging changes to accountability laws, concluding a lengthy process with over 50 hearings.

A three-member bench, led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and including Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, handled the case.

In June 2022, Imran Khan, the former prime minister, approached the Supreme Court to contest amendments made to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance via the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act 2022.

These amendments altered the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999, reducing the terms of the NAB chairman and prosecutor general to three years, restricting NAB’s jurisdiction to cases involving over Rs500 million, and transferring ongoing cases to relevant authorities.

Imran Khan argued that these changes were designed to favor influential individuals and legitimize corruption. During recent hearings, Justice Shah had advocated for a full court to hear the case, while Chief Justice Bandial opposed it due to the time it had already consumed.

At the last hearing, Justice Shah expressed fatigue in scrutinizing the NAB amendments, suggesting that if someone believed they favored certain politicians, the remedy was to vote them out and elect a new parliament for refining the NAB law.

During the recent hearing, Imran’s counsel, Khawaja Haris, and the federal government’s senior lawyer, Makhdoom Ali Khan, completed their arguments.

Chief Justice Bandial noted that references returned till May this year remained with NAB, expressing concerns about the clarity of certain crimes.

The court ultimately reserved its verdict, with Chief Justice Bandial promising a prompt decision. The petition by Imran Khan had challenged NAB law amendments, raising concerns about their impact on accountability.