ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has overturned a previous decision that nullified amendments to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws, granting intra-court appeals filed by the federal government and other affected parties, local media reported on Friday.
The SC, in a unanimous decision, approved the government’s appeals about the NAB amendments and declared the amendments lawful. The apex court reinstated the changes made to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) laws during the previous government.
The decision on the intra-court appeals challenging the nullification of the NAB amendments was reserved by a five-member larger bench of the apex court on June 6. A five-member larger bench, led by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, and comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Aminuddin Khan, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Athar Minallah, had earlier reserved the decision on June 6 after five hearings. Today, the decision was announced by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, who read the final paragraph of the reserved decision.
Previous Ruling
On June 6, a Supreme Court bench of five judges reserved its verdict on the federal government’s appeal challenging the September 15 ruling, which had declared amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) illegal. In 2022, Pakistan’s accountability laws were amended by the then government.
