Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa directed the government on Tuesday to ensure video link arrangements for imprisoned PTI founder Imran Khan to participate in the proceedings regarding changes to the country’s accountability laws and present his arguments.
A five-member bench, led by Chief Justice Isa and including Supreme Court Justices Aminuddin Khan, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Athar Minallah, and Hasan Azhar Rizvi, heard the case.
In 2022, amendments were made to the country’s accountability laws by the then-Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government, altering several aspects of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999. These changes included shortening the term of the NAB chairman and prosecutor general to three years, limiting NAB’s jurisdiction to cases involving over Rs500 million, and transferring pending inquiries, investigations, and trials to relevant authorities.
Imran Khan filed a petition in 2022 challenging these amendments, alleging they were designed to benefit influential individuals and legitimize corruption.
The petition argued that the amendments aimed to dismiss corruption cases against top officials and offer convicted public office-holders an opportunity to overturn their convictions.
The Supreme Court reserved its verdict on the case on September 5, 2023, following 53 hearings. The court debated the parliament’s authority to enact retrospective legislation. On September 15, the apex court ordered the reinstatement of corruption cases against public officials withdrawn after the amendments and deemed Imran’s plea admissible.
However, CJP Isa hinted during an October 31, 2023, hearing that if previous proceedings failed to meet the requirements of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023, proceedings could start anew if a solid case were presented.
While declining to halt ongoing corruption cases in accountability courts, the Supreme Court instructed trial courts not to issue final orders until the next hearing of the appeals.
The larger bench also issued notices to respondent Imran Khan, directing that since he was incarcerated, the notice should be served through the relevant jail superintendent.
