Supreme Court ruling striking down amendments to NAB law challenged.

ISLAMABAD -- The Supreme Court's September 15 ruling that struck down some amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999, was challenged on Friday.

In the wake of the top court's verdict upholding the Practice and Procedure Act 2023, Abdul Jabbar - through his counsel Farooq H Naek - filed a plea in the apex court, calling for setting aside the ruling on the NAB law.

The Supreme Court had in a majority decision of 10-5 on October 11, upheld the law formulated to regulate the affairs of the top court, but noted that although the right to appeal provided against a decision taken under Article 184(3) will not be applicable retrospectively, it will apply to those ruling which were issued after the law came into effect.

The NAB amendments case was related to public importance; thus, it fell under the original jurisdiction of the superior court i.e. Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

Parliament passed the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, in April, and the apex court struck down the amendments to the NAB law in September, allowing the right to appeal.

In his petition, Jabbar stated that he had "condemned unheard" but mentioned that although he was not a party to the case earlier, the court had also not issued a notice to him in this regard.

The petitioner also said that the court should exercise its jurisdiction under Article 184(3) "sparingly" and that...