Hearing Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf Chairman Imran Khan's petition against the recent amendments made to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) law, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial said that those sitting in parliament must not make self-serving legislation.
During today's hearing, the former premier’s lawyer Khwaja Harris sought more time to submit written arguments. He said he could not submit them on time owing to him having contracted Covid-19.
The CJP clarified during the hearing that the court will only be focused on examining the point of amendments against the fundamental rights and will refrain from interfering in political matters.
It was further added that if the amendments are deriding the process of accountability, it will be a violation of fundamental rights.
The CJP added that most of the amendments have provided relief to the accused, adding that the evidence presented by the plea bargainer has been made inadmissible. He said there was no prohibition against custody in the criminal justice system, but that the matter of arrest varied on the nature of the crime committed.
The CJP said in his remarks that the country is currently undergoing an extraordinary situation, with 150 members of the previous ruling party boycotting the assembly.
He furthered that the court does not want to interfere with the process of legislation, only took suo motu action over intrusion in investigation. He added that the court was only seeking record of high-profile cases to see whether the cases were being heard or not.
“The court will support all institutions that are complying with the Constitution. The court is gaining no pleasure from hearing cases under exceptional circumstances,” he said.