ISLAMABAD – Supreme Court has ruled that all cases related to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will now be heard by the Federal Constitutional Court, declaring that it no longer has jurisdiction to deal with NAB matters following amendments to the accountability law.
A short order announced by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar stated that pending and future NAB-related cases would be transferred to the Federal Constitutional Court. The ruling said the Supreme Court cannot hear NAB cases after changes made to the NAB law.
The court held that the Federal Constitutional Court is the appropriate forum for NAB matters under Article 175 of the Constitution and relevant provisions of the NAB Ordinance, including Sections 32 and 32-A. All pending NAB appeals have been considered transferred to the constitutional court under the decision.
The verdict was issued after a bench comprising Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Shahid Bilal reserved its decision on July 16 following detailed arguments from the parties.
The Supreme Court also addressed objections raised by some lawyers regarding an earlier NAB-related bail decision. The court observed that NAB had not challenged its jurisdiction in that matter, adding that the determination of an appeal forum is based on law and not on the consent of any party.
The decision comes as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan had approached the Supreme Court seeking suspension of his sentence in the £190 million reference. His petition, along with other pending NAB appeals, will now be transferred to the Federal Constitutional Court following the latest ruling.
