Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court observed Friday that it seemed as if attempts are being made to find flaws in the amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance 1999.
“This is not a case of the violation of fundamental rights,” he remarked during the hearing of a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan challenging the NAB amendments made by the then Pakistan Democratic Movement-led government in 2022.
A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Mansoor and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, heard the petition.
During the hearing, PTI’s legal counsel Khawaja Haris contended that the fundamental rights of people are affected by obstruction in the accountability process of public office holders in NAB cases.
However, Justice Mansoor remarked that the NAB amendments were not a matter of violation of fundamental human rights. He said: “If we accept for a minute that the members of parliament made amendments to benefit themselves, should we declare the NAB amendments null and void? On what grounds should we do that?” Haris responded that the court could declare the NAB amendments void under Article 9. Justice Mansoor rejected this and remarked: “Let the Judiciary and parliament operate in their own way, otherwise the democratic system will not work.”
