Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court remarked on Friday that there is, prima facie, an eagerness to find flaws in the amendments made to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws.
The observation by Justice Shah came during the hearing of a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman challenging the amendments made to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws which had been passed by the coalition government of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) parties led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The petition is being heard by a three-judge special bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and also comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan.
“This is not a case of the violation of fundamental rights," Justice Shah observed during Friday’s hearing, when PTI's counsel Khawaja Haris contended that the fundamental rights of people were affected by obstruction in the accountability process of public office-holders in NAB cases.
Justice Shah questioned, "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 the Article 9.
Rejecting this, Justice Shah remarked that "let the judiciary and parliament operate in their own manner; otherwise the democratic system will not work." He said that the general elections were around the corner and it should be left for the people to decide.
It must be noted that Justice Mansoor Ali Shah has suggested in the hearing on August 18 that CJP Bandial form a full court to hear PTI chief’s petition.
"I think that the NAB amendments case should be heard by the full court; the case will have its own impact," Justice Shah remarked.
CJP Bandial, however, disagreed, remarking that the NAB laws were indeed being misused.
"Pardons are being given by NAB indiscriminately," he said, adding that authority had been given in the hands of evil people. "It is the responsibility of the state to establish a just and fair society. The state has to ensure that criminals do not roam free, he said." He added that people are leaving the country after being denied economic opportunities.
"Justice Mansoor is raising the question of the direct relation of fundamental rights. We understand that many fundamental rights have been affected by the NAB amendments," the CJP remarked.
"NAB amendments did not directly violate fundamental rights, but there is definitely an aspect directly affecting rights in the NAB amendments," he said, adding that they must cut down and see the relationship between fundamental rights and the amendments.
He remarked that if the institution of the auditor general was strengthened, he could look into these matters himself. "The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) is an important constitutional institution. A strong auditor general's office can also look into the accounts of provinces,” CJP Bandial remarked.