ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday dismissed the plea filed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, which sought live streaming of the hearing in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendment case.
The application, filed by the KP advocate general, was rejected by the apex court in a 4-1 verdict, with Justice Athar Minallah dissenting from the majority judgment.
The development comes as the SC is hearing the intra-court appeals filed by the federal and provincial governments against the NAB amendments struck down by the top court.
The case is being heard by a five-member SC larger bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and comprising Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Minallah and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi.
Earlier in the day, Justice Minallah had called for the live streaming of the proceedings of the said case.
“The [hearing of] case should be broadcast live since this was the case before as well,” the judge said.
As the hearing was about to start, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general apprised the court that the provincial government had filed a request seeking a live broadcast of the case. “This is a case of public interest,” he said.
“This is a technical case and not one of public interest,” CJP Isa said while responding to the KP advocate general’s remarks.
The court then took a break with the judges consulting on the issue of live streaming of the case proceedings.
During the previous hearing on May 16, which wasn’t broadcast live, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) incarcerated founder Imran Khan appeared before the court via video link after the former prime minister expressed his wish to present his own arguments in the case.
However, the ex-PM’s appearance, his first in the apex court since his arrest last year from Zaman Park in the Toshakhana reference, did not go without controversy. The Supreme Court administration announced an investigation after his image, taken while appearing before the court, was leaked on social media.
