Justice Mansoor calls for forming full court to hear NAB amendments case
Pakistan
Justice Mansoor calls for forming full court to hear NAB amendments case
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Supreme Court's Justice Mansoor Ali Shah advised Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to convene a full court session to take up the Pakistan Tekreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) petition contesting the amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law.
During the 48th hearing on the petition, Justice Mansoor said the NAB amendments case should be taken up by the full court due to the impact of the case. The three-member bench, led by CJP Bandial and comprising Justices Mansoor and Ijazul Ahsan, presided over the proceedings on Friday.
Justice Mansoor also highlighted that Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan had raised an objection in a military court case. He pointed out that according to Sections 3 and 4 of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, the case should be heard by a bench consisting of at least five members. Consequently, he suggested that CJP Bandial should constitute a full court to address the case.
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Furthermore, Justice Mansoor said only the full court should handle such cases, including the petitions challenging military trials of civilians. He said the Supreme Court should first reach a decision on the practice and procedure law. He noted that the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act had not been resolved yet and highlighted the potential impact on the matter.
During the hearing, Yasir Aman, assistant counsel to Khawaja Haris, the PTI's representative, informed the court that Haris had requested him (Aman) to represent him due to health reasons. The Supreme Court granted Aman the opportunity to present arguments.
Justice Mansoor criticised the PTI's legal representative at the outset for failing to address the fundamental rights affected by the amendments. He recalled that he had raised this question in previous hearings and expressed disappointment that the petitioner's counsel had not provided a satisfactory response.
CJP Bandial commented during the hearing that reviewing the 2023 amendments to the law might not be within the court's purview. He mentioned that the court had previously dealt with challenges to the NAB amendments of 2022. He directed the PTI counsel to submit the new NAB amendments and written responses, postponing the hearing to Aug 28.
He noted that the court aimed to expedite the case due to a bench member's upcoming retirement.
