ISLAMABAD, Sep 05 (APP): The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its judgment in a petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) challenging amendments in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law.
A three-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah heard the case at length.
During the course of proceedings, the CJP observed that the top court did not take suo-moto actions as it had learnt lessons from the past. As his retirement was near, the bench would pass an appropriate order in the case before it, he added.
The chief justice asked PTI’s lawyer Khawaja Harris that whether he had read the NAB report. The Bureau had narrated the reasons for returning of the references till May. Everything was now on record that whose references had been returned, he added.
CJP Bandial noted that the first amendment in Section 23 of the NAB law was introduced in May while the second was enacted in June. The references which were returned before May were still with the anti-corruption watchdog, he added.
He questioned whether there was any provision in the amendments to shift the cases to other forums, observing action must be taken against the crimes including corruption of public assets, smuggling and money laundering. Lack of clarity about such cases in the law was disappointing, he regretted.
It was the state’s responsibility to ensure the public protection and its prosperity, he said, adding a law should be clear.
The CJP asked whether the crimes would be eliminated with the application of the amendments from the past a,d what was the purpose to apply them from the past. As per the amended law a convicted person could seek setting aside his sentence (for corruption) and demand for returning of the money recovered, he observed.
The chief justice asked whether the court could send the matter again to the Parliament to remove weaknesses in the law.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that there was no need of any law for shifting of the cases to the relevant forums. The cases must be sent to any other forums for proceedings, he said.
He asked which article of the Constitution stopped the Parliament from legislation to apply the law from the past. The court could view the law when the basic rights, if any, was affected by the legislation, he added.
Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan said that the pending inquiries and investigations had been frozen after the amendments. It would affect the public rights until a mechanism was introduced for the shifting of cases to other forums, he added.
He observed that the Parliament was not authorized to do everything. It could not abolish a crime by applying the amendments from the past, he added.
The court subsequently reserved its verdict after the respondents completed their arguments.
Makhdoom Ali Khan and PTI chairman’s lawyer Khawaja Harris also gave arguments on the occasion. However, the Attorney General for Pakistan could not appear before the bench due to his visit abroad. The NAB prosecutor also submitted a report and apprised the top court regarding the details of references returned after the amendments.
