Decision reserved on petition challenging NAB amendment via presidential ordinance

Petitioner's lawyer contends only Parliament has authority to amend NAB laws

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday reserved its decision on a petition challenging the amendment to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law through a presidential ordinance.

The petition was heard by Justice Shujaat Ali Khan after being filed by citizen Munir Ahmed.

During the hearing, the Deputy Attorney General Rauf Atta clarified that no similar petition is currently pending in the Supreme Court.

The court questioned the necessity of the presidential ordinance, asking whether an emergency situation had warranted it being issued.

"Why was there a need to issue a presidential ordinance in the presence of Parliament?" the court further remarked.

Advocate Azhar Siddique argued for an injunction against the presidential ordinance.

The petitioner's lawyer contended that only Parliament has the authority to amend NAB laws, while the president can issue an ordinance only in emergencies.

The lawyer argued that the president exceeded his authority by making amendments through an ordinance, which was issued by the acting president.

The lawyer requested that the amendments to the NAB law made through the presidential ordinance be declared null and void.

The petition specifically challenges the increase in the physical remand period under the NAB law from 14 days to 40 days. Subsequently, the court reserved its decision.

Read: Petition filed in LHC against election ordinance

Previously, after more than six months, the Supreme Court had fixed the federal government's intra-court appeal (ICA) against the majority judgement declaring the amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 2002 as illegal.

The larger bench in its Oct 31 order asked the accountability courts to proceed with trials but refrained them from announcing the final judgment.

Former prime minister Imran Khan had also challenged the amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law.

The apex court by a majority of 2-1 had declared the amendments to NAO 2000 as unconstitutional. It had ordered the reopening of all corruption cases worth less than Rs500 million that were previously closed against political leaders from various parties and public office holders.

Furthermore, the apex court had directed the NAB to return all case records to the relevant courts within seven days.