ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court, o Thursday, will resume the hearing of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan’s challenge to the recent amendments to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) ordinance, a day after an amended petition was filed in the matter on behalf of the ex-premier.

A three-member SC bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, will take up the matter after Advocate Khawaja Haris Ahmed, counsel for the PTI chief, filed the amended petition that laid emphasis on the alleged violation of fundamental rights as a result of the legislation.

In the amended petition, the petitioner has included the challenge to second amendment to the law done by the coalition government on Aug 16 in which offences involving misappropriation of less than Rs500 million were taken out of the purview of the law.

Moreover, absconders who were punished under Section 31 of the ordinance in absentia were also taken out.

Amended petition targets Aug 16 legislation on offences involving misappropriation of less than half a billion rupees

The petition stated that most of the changes were ‘person specific’.

The petitioner pleaded that it would be just and fair in protecting the constitutional and fundamental rights of the citizens that NAB should be asked to provide details of all cases, which relate to prominent and influential holders of public office, especially regarding cases pertaining to offences of owning assets (movable and immovable) beyond known sources of income and misuse of authority.

However, the petitioner feared, the recent amendments operated to preemptively exonerate public office holders or their co-conspirators from offences of corruption.

The petition claimed the amendments were also ultra vires of the fundamental rights guaranteed to people in articles 9, 14, 18, 24 and 25 of the Constitution.

Senior counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan, who represented the federal government, has already furnished a concise statement in the case, which had been filed in June.

According to the statement, the forum to enact or oppose the enactment of statutes was Parliament.

Politicians might succeed or fail in the Parliament in pursuit of their objectives and those frustrated in their endeavours could take their appeal to the people, the statement pointed out.

However, the remedy for grievances of such politicians was not with the courts of law, it added.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2022