Supreme Court Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial has questioned whether the parliament could make “self-serving” laws if it was in a period of transition and elections were to be held.
The chief justice made these remarks during the hearing of the challenge by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan to recent amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance
A three member bench headed by the CJ heard the case. Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah were the other two members of the bench.
The CJ observed that they were the guardians of the constitution and it was not “joyful” for the courts to engage in lawmaking. He added that they had to protect the constitution, its machinery, and the rule of law.
The CJ expressed regret over the fact that the former ruling party [PTI] was not performing its duties since it had boycotted the parliament.
Justice Shah questioned that in case NAO was completely repealed in the future, which forum would the people approach for a solution.
The CJP remarked that the court should not enter the political arena but it also has to keep under consideration the fundamental guarantees to the citizens like fair trial and due process in the criminal judicial process.
Further hearing was postponed till September 1.
