Justice demands that the Chief Justice recuse himself from my cases: Imran Khan

Imran Khan has objected to the inclusion of Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa in the bench while submitting written submissions on Wednesday in the case of government appeals against the nullification of the NAB amendments.

Former prime minister and founding chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan on Wednesday submitted written submissions in the case of government appeals against the nullification of NAB amendments, in which he joined the bench of Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa. Raising objection, he has said that 'justice demands that the Chief Justice separate himself from my cases.'

A five-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa had heard the appeals against the decision of the NAB amendments case and after the arguments were completed, it reserved the decision on June 6 last month, saying that the parties can submit written submissions.

Other members of the bench included Justice Aminuddin, Justice Jamal Mandukhel, Justice Athar Manullah and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi.

In this case, the court also ensured the presence of founder PTI Imran Khan through video link and since Imran Khan was the main petitioner in this case, his arguments were also heard.

In a written reply, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, referring to the issue of distribution of development funds to MNAs, requested that the Chief Justice should not hear the cases related to them.

The PTI founder pleaded with the Supreme Court to dismiss the appeals and added: 'Amendment of laws to save a person from corruption does not happen even in 'Banana Republic'. Corruption is destructive to the economy and has negative effects. During the hearing, Justice Athar Manullah said to me that the amendments will benefit you too, but my position is clear that it is not about me but about the country. Parliament should legislate within the constitution.

Imran Khan further said that if NAB abuses its authority, the amendments should be to the extent of stopping it. An example of abuse of authority is the Tosha Khana case of NAB against me. NAB made a loss of 1 crore 80 lakhs to 3 billion 18 crores to make a case against me. In the past, the corrupt used laws and parliament as their shield. Amendments made to protect corruption undermine public confidence in the law. Laws should not be meant for an individual but for the people and the Supreme Court should not turn a blind eye to the facts.

NAB Amendment Case: When did it happen?

In 2022, PTI founder Imran Khan challenged the NAB amendments introduced by the former government led by then Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

A bench headed by former Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial heard this petition.

On September 15 last year, before the former Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial retired from his post, the Supreme Court issued the judgment of the case, in which the Supreme Court ruled on the definition of benami, assets in excess of income and the burden of proof to be transferred to the prosecution. NAB's amendment was declared null and void.

In the majority decision, the court had declared that the cases of all the people sitting in public positions are restored, while the court also ordered to restore all the cases that ended when the limit was less than 50 crores and send them to the accountability court. At the same time, the court had issued an order to NAB to send all the records to the relevant courts within seven days.

The decision was delivered by a three-member bench, in which Chief Justice and Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan gave the majority decision, while the third judge, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, disagreed with the majority decision.

Later, on October 17 last year, the federal government filed an appeal against the decision to declare the NAB amendments null and requested to declare it null and void.

Federation, NAB and chairman PTI were made parties in the appeal, while on October 15, petitioner Zubair Ahmed Siddiqui also filed an appeal against the NAB amendment decision under the Practice and Procedure Law, in which the decision against the NAB amendments was declared null and void. was requested.

What amendments did the PDM government make in NAB?

There were 27 amendments in the NAB Act. Under the NAB Amendment Bill 2022, many matters were removed from the jurisdiction of the NAB and it was also stated that these amendments would be deemed to be effective from the commencement of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.

Under the NAB Amendment Bill 2022, NAB will not be able to investigate corruption cases of less than Rs 50 crore.

Under the NAB Amendment Bill, the authority of the President regarding the appointment of Accountability Court judges was also withdrawn and given to the federal government, while the tenure of the Prosecutor General NAB could be extended by three years.

Section 16 of the NAB Act was also amended, according to which the case can be tried in the accountability court of the same area where the offense is committed.

Section 19E was also amended in the bill, under which NAB's power to allow supervision with the help of the High Court was withdrawn. After the passage of the law, NAB could not process federal, provincial or local tax matters and the regulatory bodies operating in the country were also thrown out of NAB's purview.

Under the NAB amendment bill, no other government agency will be able to take help for the investigation against the accused, while the accused will be informed of the charges against him so that they can defend themselves in the court.

The NAB Ordinance was also amended that NAB can remand any accused for a maximum period of 14 days, however later this period was further amended to 30 days.