Supreme Court clarifies jurisdiction over NAB appeals

Islamabad: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued a landmark constitutional judgement regarding National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases, declaring that bail and other pending appeals in NAB cases will now be heard by the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) and not the Supreme Court. The court clarified that all relevant cases under Article 175F of the Constitution and Section 32A of the National Accountability Ordinance will be automatically deemed to be transferred to the Federal Constitutional Court.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said in a 30-page judgement that courts can exercise their jurisdiction only in accordance with the Constitution and law and not under public or media pressure. The judgement emphasised that no court should exercise a power that is not granted to it by law.

The court cited the unnecessary use of judicial powers in the past, saying that this affected the reputation of the judicial system, which resulted in the introduction of constitutional and legal reforms. The bench said that if a court does not have the legal authority, it should refrain from interfering in the case.

The decision was given on a petition filed by NAB against an acquittal decision of the Peshawar High Court and on a post-arrest bail application of detained accused Aamir Mahmood. NAB had taken the stand that the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court has ended after the 27th Constitutional Amendment and Section 32A, while the defence counsel took the stand that the bail application of the accused under trial does not fall under the category of second appeal.

The Supreme Court ruled that after the establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court, the right to a second appeal in accountability cases has become a formal legal status, and it will also apply to pending cases. The court clarified that this new legal facility will not be applicable to cases already disposed of.

Legal circles say that after this decision, the next proceedings of several important NAB cases, including the Al-Qadir Trust case, are likely to be held in the Federal Constitutional Court, where a decision will be made on pending appeals and applications for suspension of sentence.