The Supreme Court has been urged to declare National Accountability (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 ultra vires of the Constitution and void ab initio and suspend its operation till the final disposal of the petition.
Farrukh Nawaz Bhatti, President Young Journalists Association of Pakistan (YJAP), Islamabad, on Monday filed a constitutional petition under Article 184(3) of Constitution and made Ministry of Law and Justice, Prime Minister Imran Khan and chairman of National Accountability Bureau, Federal Board of Revenue and Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) as respondents.
He submitted that National Accountability (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 is an attempt to distort principle of "prescribed manner and method" by creating an exception and allowing the civil servants, public servants and bureaucracy to run the affairs of the State according to their wishes and whims on the pretext of "procedural lapses."
He submitted that the President Dr Arif Alvi on the advice of the federal government promulgated NAO, 2019, which is in violation of different provisions of the fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution.The new law is against the principle of elimination of exploitation provided in the Article 3 and is also against the Rule of Law and Procedure as contained in Article 4.
The making and promulgating of the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, is a conspiracy to divide the general public and society in the country "on economic class basis."
He stated that the international law and regimes are toughening regulatory measures to check illegal, ill-gotten and exploitative gains and the federal government is facing stringent restrictions from FATF, while in Pakistan it made and promulgated the Ordinance only to protect some corrupt elements to endure their corruption and financial gains through corrupt practices, which are not permissible under the provisions of the Constitution.
The petitioner said that the acts of the respondents are highly exploitative, class-based, non-transparent, non-competitive and in violation of open competition in free market and fair play, constituting violation of fundamental rights of the petitioner as guaranteed under Articles 8, 9, 14, 18 and 25 read with Preamble of the Constitution and Articles 2A, 3 and 4 as well as Article 37 and 38 of the Constitution.
The federal government, instead of facilitating tax payers and loyal citizens of Pakistan and creating more loyalty and obedience towards law, is standing with tax evaders, mis-users of discretion and corrupt elements of the country, paving the way for the masses to defy the Constitution.
The federal government instead of discharging its legislative responsibility under Article 212 (1)(b) even after passage of about 46 years has failed to perform its constitutional duty and instead is going to insulate and save the executive and its collaborators in criminal and tortious acts from its liability under the provisions of the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, which is not sustainable under the said Article read with the Articles 3,4,5,8 and 25 of Constitution, said the petition, asking whether such action are permissible under the Constitution.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019
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