National Accountability (Amend) Ord 2021 challenged in LHC

LAHORE: Recently promulgated National Accountability (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 has been challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC) through two separate petitions.

The government, in a recently promulgated presidential ordinance, amended the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 and extended tenure of the incumbent Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal.

“The National Accountability Amendment Ordinance contravenes the judgments of the higher judiciary,” say the petitions, filed by advocates Ishtiaq A Chaudhry and Saeed Zafar. The petitioners said an ordinance could not be promulgated in the presence of the parliament, as the legislation was the prerogative of the Parliament. The petitions sought the court directions to declare the ordinance as “unconstitutional and unlawful”.

They said a law should not be person-specific and requested the court to hold the law in abeyance until final decision on their petitions.

However, LHC Registrar’s office returned the petitions with objections. The Registrar’s office directed the petitioner to attach a copy of the impugned ordinance.

President Arif Alvi had promulgated the NAB Amendment Ordinance 2021, paving the way to extend the tenure of the anti-graft watchdog chairman.