On Friday, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan voiced optimism for party founder Imran Khan’s legal outlook. He noted that significant cases against Khan would now escape the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) scope.
This followed the Supreme Court’s decision to entertain intra-court appeals against the September 15, 2023 judgment, invalidating amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO).
Read: Supreme Court Reinstates NAB Amendments, Rules Against Imran Khan
Gohar said that the Toshakhana and Al-Qadir Trust cases no longer under NAB’s jurisdiction. He insisted that the £190 million case be judged on its merits.
“The cabinet decided the £190 million, which the new amendments to NAB law now exclude,” he clarified.
Gohar added that the unanimous verdict means the Toshakhana case, worth Rs30-40 million, cannot proceed. He also noted that the £190 million case, involving no personal interest, is similarly stalled following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Earlier, a five-member Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa accepted the government’s appeals against the September 15 judgment.
The court observed today that the PTI founder couldn’t prove the NAB amendments unconstitutional.
The bench reserved its verdict on June 6 after hearing appeals against the September 15 decision by then-CJP Umar Ata Bandial.
That decision struck down several 1999 NAO amendments.
These amendments, passed in April 2022 during a joint parliamentary session, came under the PDM-led government after Khan’s ousting by a no-trust motion.
Although the amendments altered several NAB sections, the Supreme Court under CJP Bandial invalidated nine of the ten, responding to a petition from the PTI founder filed in June 2022.
