Pakistan: SC’s observation in NAB Amendment case

During the hearing of Imran Khan's petition against the NAB Laws Amendment Act, the Supreme Court has said in its observation that a red line will be set on the NAB law through the case under hearing. The Supreme Court once again struck down the NAB Amendment Act 2022. The details of the cases ended by NAB and the corruption cases transferred to other relevant forums have been sought. Earlier, Special Prosecutor NAB told the Supreme Court that no NAB case has ended with NAB amendments, nor has NAB ended prosecution in any case. However, some NAB cases have been transferred to relevant forums only after the amendment act.

Chief Justice Supreme Court Justice Umar Atta Bandial said that if the court does not intervene in any legal violation, it will be extremely unfair to the people. Justice Ijaz Al-Ahsan said during the hearing that the issue related to NAB amendments before the court is about public trust in Parliament. If it is proved that the public trust has been damaged, NAB will decide on the amendments from any angle. Accountability has always been discriminatory in the homeland. Technical and political complications aside, the result is that the jails are full of pickpockets, thieves and petty traders belonging to the bankrupt class. . Among them there are thousands of people who turned to crime due to some compulsion or were innocent and could not afford the expensive justice system. On the other hand, the media has been frequently reporting such cases in which influential families. There are allegations of obtaining huge amounts of money by cheating and misusing their powers. These people belong to high government officials, politicians and financially stable families, so the interest of the common man in legal proceedings against them would increase.

?Public constituencies determine the good or bad performance of the justice system by looking at the nature of the action against them. During the Tehreek-e-Insaaf regime, NAB has been investigating various cases against the important leaders of Muslim League-N and People's Party. The prime minister, ministers and many important personalities of the PDM government were accused by NAB. Punishment was about to be decided against some on the basis of solid evidence that the government changed.

?As soon as the PDM government was formed, the first thing done was to amend the NAB rules. The result of these amendments was that those who were accused till yesterday and who had a clear possibility of punishment were suddenly released simply because the law under which they could have been punished was changed. It also came out that the decision of the already established cases will be under the new amended law. This amendment benefited the private housing society owners who had extorted huge sums of money from the people. Then the ill-titled persons were given the right to sell their undeclared properties. An irony was that by amending the law, it was stipulated that the number of complainants should be more than 100.

Other amendments of this type affected the objectivity of NAB. In June 2022, Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan opposed the amendments. Imran Khan said that "Pakistan will not develop if the big criminals are not brought under the law." By amending the NAB rules, a joke was played on the nation. PDM government's Prime Minister Nazir Tarar's stance has been that 24 amendments were discussed in the National Assembly for hours, the NAB Amendment Bill was approved by the Assembly,and the amendments were made according to the Supreme Court's order and the Constitution. It is said that the President returned the National Accountability Bill 2022 without his signature. The President sent back the NAB Amendment Bill to the government for revision. During the absence of the single majority party Tehreek-e-Insaf in the National Assembly, the status of the points of the amendment bill and its moral credibility have not remained, which is evidenced by the public disapproval of it. The same expression of disapproval came out in the form of PDM's defeat in Punjab and National Assembly by-elections. The observation of the Supreme Court during its hearings regarding the NAB laws is being watched with attention in the public sphere. It is awaited that the honorable Supreme Court must draw such a red line that no influential and powerful accused can cross.