SC rejects plea seeking live streaming of NAB law case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday rejected the plea seeking live broadcast of the National Accountability (NAB) Ordinance 1999 amendment case hearing which PTI founder Imran Khan is attending via video link, ARY News reported.

A five-member bench — headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and including Justices Athar Minallah, Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Hasan Azhar Rizvi — resumed hearing the case.

At the outset of the hearing, Justice Minallah said the hearing should be broadcast in the same manner earlier hearings were.

“If the case used to be broadcast live earlier, it should be live-streamed today as well,” he observed.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa AGP said the case pertained to public interest.

At this, CJP said the case is “technical” in nature and is not a matter of public interest.

“The last hearing was not broadcast live and neither will we broadcast today,” added Justice Isa.

The court then took a break with the judges consulting on the issue of live streaming of the case proceedings.

After the break, the apex court rejected the live broadcast of hearing plea with a majority 4-1 margin.

Last hearing

At the outset of the hearing, Khawaja Haris came to the rostrum, at which the chief justice said the former was a counsel in the “original case”, hence his absence was upsetting. “We would also want to hear your stance,” the CJP remarked.

“Did you submit the bill for the fee as a lawyer?”, the top judge asked. “No I do not need a free,” the lawyer replied to the CJP.

The top asked why it took so long to decide on a case related to a few amendments.

The federal government’s lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan said the case was prolonged on the point of its admissibility. The same was narrated in the final order of the Supreme Court, he added.

CJP Justice Qazi Faez Isa asked Makhdoom Ali Khan to make his arguments loudly so that the PTI founder could listen to him on the video link.

During the hearing, the matter of delaying general elections also came to light. The CJP in a friendly argument with Justice Athar Minallah remarked that we solved the issue within 12 days.

“We solved the election matter within 12 days after you [Justice Minallah] joined me,” the top judge said.

Review petitions

The federal government filed the review plea in the NAB amendments case under the SC Practice and Procedure Law and made the Federation of Pakistan, National Accountability Bureau and PTI founder respondents.

Citing no violation of basic rights with the NAB amendments, the federal government pleaded with the SC to nullify its decision in the case. “Legislation is the right of the Parliament,” the plea said.

Verdict

In a majority 2-1 verdict, the top court approved Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s petition challenging amendments made to the country’s accountability laws during the tenure of the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government.

The top court also restored graft cases against public office holders that were closed down following the amendments to National Accountability Bureau laws.