The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government filed a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday to have the Supreme Court’s hearing on the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance 1999 amendment case live telecast.
KP’s Attorney General, Kausar Ali Shah, submitted the petition. He argued that public interest cases should be live-streamed, but the previous hearing was not.
In the NAB amendment case, the Supreme Court allowed a video link facility for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan. Under the court’s direction, Imran Khan appeared before the SC bench via video link. However, the proceedings were not live-streamed on the Supreme Court’s YouTube channel. Later, leaked pictures of Imran Khan in Adiala Jail went viral on various social media platforms.
In the NAB amendments case, the federal government filed a review plea under the SC Practice and Procedure Law. It named the Federation of Pakistan, NAB, and PTI founder Imran Khan as respondents. The federal government argued that the NAB amendments did not violate basic rights and urged the SC to nullify its decision, stating that legislation is the right of Parliament.
In a 2-1 verdict, the Supreme Court approved Imran Khan’s petition challenging amendments to the accountability laws made by the previous PDM-led government. The court also restored graft cases against public office holders that had been closed due to these amendments.
