PTI sees silver lining in 'adverse' SC ruling on NAB amendments case

ISLAMABAD: As the Supreme Court issued its verdict restoring amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan expected legal relief for jailed party's founder Imran Khan.

The party chairman stated that the major cases against the former premier no longer fall in the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) jurisdiction.

Barrister Gohar's comment came after SC's decision to accept intra-court appeals filed against the September 15, 2023, majority judgement striking down the amendments to the ordinance.

Speaking to Geo News after the verdict, the chairman said that the Toshakhana case and Al-Qadir Trust case do not fall in the anti-graft body's jurisdiction anymore. He added that the £190 million case should be settled on merit.

"The £190 million was also decided by the cabinet [...] and under the new amendments, the NAB law will not apply to the decisions of the cabinet," he stressed.

The PTI chief said the unanimous verdict has benefitted Khan in a way that the Toshakhana case can no longer proceed.

Gohar further said that the £190 million can't be proceeded as well as it does not involve personal interest, adding that the top court has issued a verdict.

Earlier today, a five-member bench of the SC, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faiz Isa, accepted the intra-court appeals filed by the federal and provincial governments against the September 15 judgement.

Announcing the verdict today, the apex court remarked that the PTI founder could not prove that NAB amendments were unconstitutional.

The five-member bench reserved the verdict on June 6 on multiple appeals against the apex court's September 15 verdict which was announced by then-CJP Umar Ata Bandial.

The majority judegment had struck down some amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999.

The amendments — National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act 2022 — were passed in a joint sitting of the parliament in April 2022 during the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government which came into power after ousting ex-premier Khan via a no-trust move in 2022.

It modified sections 2, 4, 5, 6, 25 and 26 of the NAB laws, however, 9 out of 10 amendments were declared "null and void" by the CJP Bandial-led bench on the PTI founder's petition filed in June 2022.