ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court questioned why the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) instead of discussing the amendments in the National Accountability Ordinance in the Parliament brought them to the Court and granted a walkover to the incumbent government.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Tuesday heard the constitutional petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan against the amendments in the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.

The PTI has prayed that the amendments made through the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act, 2022 be declared ultra vires to the constitution.

The chief justice appreciating the assistance of former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, regarding the matter, saying Qureshi who is MLA has to explain why the debate conducted before the Supreme Court is not done in the Parliament.

The court issued notice to the federation, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), and Attorney General for Pakistan for assistance. “We need further assistance from the parties,” said the SC order. The bench dismissed Khawaja Haris’s request to suspend the operation of the National Accountability (Amendment) Act (XI of) 2022 or to pass an order that the benefit may be accrued through the Act should be disallowed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022