Govt counsel says amendments in line with previous ones.
Says SC should not confine itself only to 386 cases and references.
Bringing new amendments to NAB law cannot have a retrospective effect, says SC judge.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the record of beneficiaries of NAB ordinances promulgated during the tenure of Imran Khan from the National Accountability Bureau.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsen and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, heard the petition of former prime minister and Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan, challenging the amendments made by the coalition government to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999.
Makhdom Ali Khan, counsel for the federal government, while advancing his arguments, submitted before the court that the present amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999 were in continuation of the previous amendments made to the law.
He submitted that the court should not confine itself only to the 386 cases and references that were sent back by the accountability court after amendments were made to the NAO 1999 by the present government. Makhdom Ali Khan, in response to Justice Ijazul Ahsen’s query the other day, said that since five NAB ordinances were promulgated during the three-and-a-half-year government, the court could have also asked how many references were sent back and how many accused were acquitted through these ordinances and who benefited from it. “Then you should tell us what questions we should pose to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and we will note them down,” Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial told the learned counsel for the federal government.
The counsel replied that the court should ask the NAB how many references were sent back by the accountability courts through the ordinances promulgated by the PTI government.
Similarly, the counsel submitted that the court should also ask the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) how many people got acquitted through the PTI ordinances and how many applications for acquittal were returned by the trial courts.
At the outset of the hearing, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah observed that even if the anti-graft body law was abolished, other laws could tackle the crimes. The judge said that it was incorrect to say that after being acquitted in the NAB cases and becoming clean, one could go home easily.
“This impression is incorrect that by abolishing the NAB, the grip of the law will also be reduced,” Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said.
Justice Ijazul Ahsen said that it was the stance of the petitioner that the standard of establishing the crime has been changed in NAB cases through the amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999.
This is also an important question after being convicted in NAB cases; how could the new amendments be applied with retrospective effect?
“Bringing new amendments to the NAB law could not have a retrospective effect,” Justice Ahsen remarked, adding that it was very strange that the new amendments to the NAB law have such great amnesty.
“I also know that there are other laws besides the NAB laws, but after all, if an accountability court acquits an accused of an offence, he will go home,” the judge remarked.
Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing for today (Thursday).
SC expresses displeasure over delay in AGP’s appointment.
Justice Isa calls govt “incompetent”.
Says govt violating Constitution by not appointing AGP.
The Supreme Court on Monday, while fuming over the delay in the attorney general of Pakistan’s (AGP) appointment, told the federal government to fill the constitutional post.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa gave remarks on the lack of assistance from the attorney general in a case related to tampered car.
“We are asking you politely to appoint the attorney general,” Justice Isa told the government during the hearing.
“Who is the attorney general in the country right now?” questioned Justice Isa.
At this, the deputy attorney general failed to give a satisfying answer.
“The government is so incompetent that it cannot even appoint an attorney general,” said the Supreme Court justice.
He questioned whether the government is bargaining with someone over the AGP’s appointment.
“The Supreme Court has 5,500 lawyers but the government cannot find a single one,” he added.
Justice Isa said that the government is violating the Constitution by not appointing the AGP, adding that the orders given by the apex court were not followed either.
The court said that the additional attorney general and the deputy attorney general are bound to take instructions from the AGP only.
“It is against the law for the deputy and additional attorney general to appear without instructions of the AGP,” the court added.
‘AGP to be finalised in 2-3 days’
On January 21, Federal Law Minister Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said that the new attorney general will be finalized within two or three days.
The judiciary had expressed displeasure with the government for not appointing the AGP after former attorney general Ashtar Ausaf Ali tendered his resignation in October last year due to health reasons.
President Dr Arif Alvi approved the appointment of Mansoor Usman Awan, who is a Supreme Court lawyer, as the AGP on December 23 after accepting Ausaf’s resignation. However, he refused from taking charge.
“I am going to meet PM Shehbaz today (Saturday) and possibly the issue of appointing the new attorney general will be finalised within two or three days,” Tarar said.
He revealed that first Awan consented to be the attorney general but later he verbally and in writing refused to accept the office, citing his professional engagements.
“I can’t disclose the names of the new potential candidates, being nominated for the slot of attorney general but hopefully the prime minister will finalize the name within two to three days,” he told The News.
National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Friday accepted the resignations of 35 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs taking the total number of resignations accepted in the last eight months to 81.
The National Assembly Secretariat, in a statement issued in this regard, mentioned that the resignations have been approved under Clause (1) of Article 64 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Following the approval of the resignations, the summary was sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to de-notify the PTI lawmakers.
Here’s a list of all 35 MNAs whose resignations were accepted today:
Dr Haider Ali Khan — NA-2
Saleem Rehman — NA-3
Sahibzada Sibghatullah — NA-5
Mehboob Shah — NA-6
Muhammad Bashir Khan — NA-7
Junaid Akbar — NA-8
Sher Akbar Khan —NA-9
Ali Khan Jadoon —NA-16
Engr Usman Khan Tarakai — NA-19
Mujahid Ali — NA-20
Arbab Amir Ayub — NA-28
Sher Ali Arbab — NA-30
Shahid Ahmed — NA-34
Gul Dad Khan — NA-40
Sajid Khan — NA-42
Mohammad Iqbal Khan — NA-44
Aamer Mehmood Kiani — NA-61
Syed Faiz ul Hassan — NA-70
Ch Shoukat Ali Bhatti — NA-87
Umar Aslam Khan — NA-93
Amjad Ali Khan — NA-96
Khurram Shahzad — NA-107
Faizullah — NA-109
Malik Karamat Ali Khokhar — NA-135
Syed Fakhar Imam — NA-150
Zahoor Hussain Qureshi — NA-152
Ibraheem Khan — NA-158
Tahir Iqbal — NA-164
Aurangzeb Khan Khichi — NA-165
Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar — NA-177
Abdul Majeed Khan — NA-187
Reserve Seats
Andaleeb Abbas — RS-Women
Asma Qadeer — RS-Women
Maleeka Ali Bokhari — RS-Women
Munawara Bibi Baloch — RS-Women
The NA speaker accepted 70 resignations this week, as he approved the resignations of 35 lawmakers earlier this week.
Here’s a list of all those 35 MNAs de-notified by the ECP:
Resignations accepted in accordance with Article 64 of Constitution.
Summary sent to ECP to de-notify PTI lawmakers.
Seventy PTI resignations have been accepted this week.
ISLAMABAD: The political uncertainty continues in Pakistan after the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz on Friday accepted the resignations of 35 more Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNAs.
The PTI had resigned from the lower house of parliament after the ouster of PTI chief Imran Khan in April 2022.
According to a press release issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, the resignations were accepted in accordance with clause (1) of Article 64 of the Constitution and rules of procedure and conduct of Business in the NA.
“In accordance with clause (1) of Article 64 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, read with Rule 43 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly of Pakistan 2007, the Hon’ble Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan has been pleased to accept the resignations of the following Members of the National Assembly with effect from April 11, 2022, the date when the letter of respective resignations was submitted,” said the statement.
The resignations had been accepted with effect from 11 April 2022, the date when the letters of respective resignations were submitted, said Radio Pakistan.
Following the approval of the resignations, the summary was sent to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to de-notify the PTI lawmakers.
Here’s the list of PTI lawmakers whose resignations have been accepted:
S.No
Name
Constituency
01
Dr Haider Ali Khan
NA-2
02
Saleem Rehman
NA-3
03
Sahibzada Sibghatullah
NA-5
04
Mehboob Shah
NA-6
05
Muhammad Bashir Khan
NA-7
06
Junaid Akbar
NA-8
07
Sher Akbar Khan
NA-9
08
Ali Khan Jadoon
NA-16
09
Engr Usman Khan Tarakai
NA-19
10
Mujahid Ali
NA-20
11
Arbab Amir Ayub
NA-28
12
Sher Ali Arbab
NA-30
13
Shahid Ahmed
NA-34
14
Gul Dad Khan
NA-40
15
Sajid Khan
NA-42
16
Mohammad Iqbal Khan
NA-44
17
Aamer Mehmood Kiani
NA-61
18
Syed Faiz ul Hassan
NA-70
19
Chaudhry Shoukat Ali Bhatti
NA-87
20
Umar Aslam Khan
NA-93
21
Amjad Ali Khan
NA-96
22
Khurram Shahzad
NA-107
23
Faizullah
NA-109
24
Malik Karamat Ali Khokhar
NA-135
25
Syed Fakhar Imam
NA-150
26
Zahoor Hussain Qureshi
NA-152
27
Ibraheem Khan
NA-158
28
Tahir Iqbal
NA-164
29
Aurangzeb Khan Khichi
NA-165
30
Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar
NA-177
31
Abdul Majeed Khan
NA-187
32
Andaleeb Abbas
Reserved seat
33
Asma Qadeer
Reserved seat
34
Maleeka Ali Bokhari
Reserved seat
35
Munawara Bibi Baloch
Reserved seat
Earlier, Ashraf had stalled the process of accepting resignations after July 28 stating the remaining lawmakers would be summoned individually for verification.
However, contrary to his claims he quickened the process by accepting the resignations of 34 PTI MNAs and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid earlier this week after an eight-month hiatus.
Soon after the PTI announced its return to the assembly and test the PM through a no-trust move, the government so far accepted 70 PTI resignations during the current week only.
Around 131 MNAs of the PTI had tendered their resignations en masse after Imran Khan’s government was ousted through a no-confidence motion in April last year.
By July 28, 2022, the NA speaker had accepted the resignations of only 11 PTI lawmakers.
PTI calls govt’s move ‘illegal and immoral’
Speaking to the media outside the Parliament House, senior PTI leaders said the speaker retracted from his old stance by accepting the resignations of 35 more PTI lawmakers today.
Asad Qaiser, Asad Umar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and others termed the government’s move “illegal and immoral”.
Former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser condemned the decision and revealed that Ashraf had called the PTI leaders to the assembly and told them that the resignations would not be accepted unless he had a word with the MNAs himself separately.
“Were those whose resignations were accepted called by the Speaker?”Qaiser asked.
Berating the speaker’s decision, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said now that 81 resignations were accepted, the government must also give a date for the general elections.
Expressing his displeasure over the decision, the PTI leader blamed Islamabad for the political and economic crises in the country.
“We are heading towards a Sri Lanka-like situation,” Chaudhry claimed.
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the speaker first said that he cannot accept the resignations collectively.
“We decided to come to the meeting and he [the speaker] postponed it and when we came to the assembly, he accepted the resignations of 35 more MNAs,” said Qureshi, demanding that the rest of the resignations should also be accepted.
The party’s vice chairman said that the PTI wants snap polls so that the people can decide for themselves.