ISLAMABAD
An intra-court appeal (ICA) against the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the NAB Amendment case has been fixed for hearing.
The intra-court appeal has been filed by the federal government. A five-judge larger bench led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Aminuddin, Justice Jamal Khan, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Hassan Azhar will hear the appeal on October 31 (Tuesday).
The Supreme Court has issued notices to the lawyers on government’s appeal.
On September 15, the Supreme Court led by then Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial declared some amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance null and void and revived corruption cases against public office holders that were withdrawn after amendments were made to the country’s accountability laws.However, the federal gov ernment filed an intra court appeal against the SC decision last week through senior lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan.
The government sought 15 days to file additional documents with a plea that the majority decision was against the facts of the case and contrary to the law.
Through the ICA, the federal government argued that PTI Chairman Imran Khan, who had challenged the amendments, was given opportunities during the hearing not only to make verbal submissions for 27 hearings but also to make submissions in rebuttal, whereas the federation was restricted only to answering queries from the bench.
