Imran Khan appears before SC via video link in NAB amendments case

The sources said the Adiala jail administration had apprised the PTI founder about his appearance through video link. The staff of the top court and jail authorities did a trial run of the video link before Khan’s appearance, they added.

The former prime minister would appear before the SC at 11:30am today via video link in the NAB amendments case.

A day ago, his lawyers Khawaja Haris and Intezar Panjutha held a short meeting with Khan in jail following the SC's order to the federal and Punjab governments to make arrangements for a video link facility for the incarcerated politico.

"The PTI founder can present his arguments in the upcoming hearing via video link if he wishes to do so [...] arrangements should be made for the presentation of arguments via video link," Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa had said Tuesday.

He remarked this during hearing of the federal government’s intra-court appeal against the SC’s 2023 verdict that annulled some of the NAB amendments.

The five-member SC larger bench, headed by CJP Isa, included Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi.

The same bench will hear the NAB case on May 16. Khan, incarcerated in Adiala jail, wanted to appear in the top court in person to present his arguments. However, the court allowed him to defend himself via video link.

The ex-premier has been out of sight since August 2023 after he was nabbed following a conviction in the Toshakhana case.

After being arrested, the PTI founder was found guilty in several cases, including cypher and unlawful marriage, he remained imprisoned even though he had obtained bail in some of the cases.

This will be Khan's first virtual public appearance in almost 10 months, if he appeared via video link.

According to the Adiala jail authorities, Khan's video link appearance has been scheduled in accordance with the apex court's orders. The PTI founder, however, is free to choose whether or not to come before the bench. The authorities will guarantee Khan's virtual presence in court, they said.

A three-member bench of the SC, in September 2023, had approved former prime minister Khan’s petition challenging amendments made to the country’s accountability laws during the tenure of the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government.

Headed by then-chief justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Ijazul Ahsan, the court held more than 50 hearings and in its majority 2-1 verdict restored graft cases against public office holders that were closed down following the amendments.

The apex court ordered restoring all graft cases worth less than Rs500 million that were closed down against the political leaders belonging to different political parties and public office holders and declared the amendments void.

The verdict provisions far-reaching consequences as the striking down of the amendments would mean that references against some of the country’s political bigwigs will once again land in the accountability courts. These include the Toshakhana reference against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, along with the LNG reference against former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and the rental power reference against another ex-premier Raja Pervez Ashraf.

Following the verdict, the federal government filed an appeal under Section 5 of the SC law against the apex court’s order.