Chief Justice of Pakistan Justife Qazi Faez Isa has remarked that excluding unelected individuals from the domain of the NAB law is discriminatory.
A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and including Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah, and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, heard the federal government’s intra-court appeal.
The federal government has challenged the apex court’s majority verdict in September last year, declaring amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 2002 illegal.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the jailed founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Adiala Jail, appeared before the court via video link.
Justice Athar Minallah asked why only elected public office holders are subjected to NAB’s jurisdiction and were the unelected excluded. He added that the exclusion of unelected individuals from the jurisdiction of the NAB law was discriminatory.
Justice Athar Minallah remarked that no elected representative or relevant minister can make a summary without the the approval of the respective Secretary. “If a Secretary writes in the summary that this is against the rules, can the Minister approve it? High-ranking officials should have the courage to deny it.”
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Isa said that the same party that challenged the law in the Supreme Court had also challenged it in the High Court.
“Shoaib Shaheen challenged the law, Hameed Khan Sahib was his lawyer, the High Court had issued a notice, then why did he come to the us,” he added.
