Islamabad: An intra-court appeal against the NAB amendments will be heard in the Supreme Court after issuance of a detailed verdict of practice and procedure case.
A five-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi heard the case today.
Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa said to assistant counsel of Makhdom Ali Khan that you wrote the NAB amendment case had to be heard by a five-member larger bench under the practice and procedure case ,” if you are firm on this point then satisfy the court on this point adding that if you satisfied the court on this matter then we will not go to the merits of the case.
In this condition we will form a new bench after restoring all the petitions against the NAB amendments. Otherwise withdraw this point and then you wait for issuance of a detailed verdict of the practice and procedure case for running the appeal, the CJ added.
Farooq H Nayik said “don’t do this and run the existing appeals if you will do it then the cases hearing start at the NAB.”
The CJ said that let’s wait for the detailed verdict of the practice and procedure and then will fix the case for hearing.
Nayik insisted the court to suspend the verdict of annulling the amendments. To which the CJ said that besides suspension of the verdict the NAB courts can be barred from giving final verdicts.
The CJ said that after surfacing of the third amendment, six hearings were conducted. In this case, the decision had must be taken on the third amendment.
Later, the court issuing today’s written verdict said that the court was informed under the practice and procedure law article 4 wherever there is a matter of the constitutional interpretation less then a five-member bench can’t hear the case.
The assistant counsel of Makhdom Ali Khan said that the SC has declared the practice and procedure law right adding that there is no insistence of suspending the verdict in the petition.
The SC refused the insistence of suspending the NAB amendments.
The top court issued notices to Chairman PTI, Attorney General and all the advocate generals.
The SC adjourned the hearing till issuance of a detailed verdict on the practice and procedure case.
