A review petition was submitted on Friday to contest the Supreme Court’s decision that invalidated the modifications made to the 1999 National Accountability Ordinance (NAO). The petitioner, Abdul Jabbar, represented by senior lawyer and PPP Senator Farooq H Naek, has requested the court to overturn its September 15, 2023, ruling. Jabbar, not part of the constitutional petition by Imran Khan challenging the NAB law amendments, is dissatisfied with the verdict, particularly concerning the NAB’s minimum pecuniary threshold, which was reduced to Rs100 million from the Parliament’s initial Rs500 million.
The petitioner raises several legal issues, including the jurisdiction of the apex court and matters relating to fundamental rights. He argues that since the NAB law was enacted by Parliament, it is Parliament’s sole responsibility to amend the law.
This development follows the federal government’s decision to file a similar appeal against the SC verdict. According to sources familiar with the matter, the appeal will be filed in the coming days through the law ministry, and the petitioner will request time to submit additional documents to the court.
On September 15, the Supreme Court issued a highly anticipated verdict, allowing former Prime Minister Imran’s petition challenging amendments to the NAO 1999 by the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) coalition government. The court ordered the revival of corruption cases against public officeholders that had been withdrawn after the amendments.
In a 2 to 1 majority decision, the apex court ordered the reopening of all corruption cases involving sums less than Rs500 million against political leaders and public officeholders from various parties. The court declared the amendments null and void. Additionally, the court instructed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to return all case records to the relevant courts within seven days.
The verdict emphasized that the NAB amendments in question impacted the public’s rights as outlined in the Constitution. The order, announced by former Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial in his final session before retirement, stated, “By a majority of 2:1 (Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah dissenting), Constitution Petition No.21 of 2022 is allowed.” The court also nullified judgments issued by accountability courts based on the amended laws.
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