Tag: Chief Justice (CJ) Umar Ata Bandial

  • Supreme Court orders restoration of corruption cases against politicians

    Supreme Court orders restoration of corruption cases against politicians

    The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday struck down recent amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999, during the tenure of the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government. A three-member SC bench headed by outgoing Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, conducted 53 hearings on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s petition against the changes made to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance under the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Act 2022.

    Today’s 2-1 majority verdict has resulted in the restoration of corruption cases against public office holders, which were closed down following the NAB amendments. The ruling specifically reinstated the NAB clause pertaining to the Service of Pakistan.

    In June 2022, former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan approached the top court to challenge the amendments to the NAB laws, contending that they will “virtually eliminate any white-collar crime committed by a public office holder”.

    On September 5, the SC reserved its verdict in the case. “My retirement is near, [we] will give a decision before retirement. We will soon announce a short and sweet verdict of the case,” said CJ Bandial.

    According to today’s SC verdict, the petition by PTI Chairman against NAB amendments was declared admissible by the majority decision, restoring all closed inquiries filed with the anti-corruption body. The top court has ordered restoring all graft cases worth less than Rs500 million that were closed down after the amendments.

    According to The Express Tribune, former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif was a major beneficiary of the amendments. Other beneficiaries include former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, former President Asif Ali Zardari, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maryam Nawaz, Faryal Talpur, Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Rana Sanaullah, Javed Lateef, Makhdoom Khosro Bakhtiar, Amir Mehmood Kayani, Akram Durani , Saleem Mandiwala, Noor Alam Khan, Nawab Aslam Riasani, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri, Barjees Tahir, Nawab Ali Wasan, Sharjeel Memon, Anwarul Haq Kakar, Liaqat Jatoi, Amir Maqam, Goram Bugti, Jaffer Mandokhel and G-B Governor Syed Mehdi Shah.

  • Justice Faez declines invitation to dinner hosted by Chief Justice Bandial

    In an effort to lessen animosity and differences between the superior judiciary, Chief Justice (CJ) Umar Ata Bandial on Monday hosted a dinner for his fellow senior Supreme Court (SC) judges.

    All of the judges of the apex court attended the event except for the next CJ of Pakistan, Justice Qazi Faez Isa.

    Justice Isa, a lawyer said, might have decided not to attend the dinner as the CJP has already reserved his decision on a government’s plea regarding withdrawal of its curative review petition against an apex court order dismissing a presidential reference against the said judge.

    Earlier, a retired chief justice also reportedly tried to resolve the issues between Bandial and Isa but all in vain.

    The SC is divided into two groups with eight judges on one side and seven on the other. Two positions in the Supreme Court have been lying vacant.

    It is pertinent to mention that questions related to the supreme power given to CJP Bandial were raised when he took up election suo moto case despite opposition by many senior judges including Justice Qazi Faez. Since then the rift in the court has been widely speculated upon.