Supreme Court declares hearing bail applications in pending NAB appeals is FCC's jurisdiction

The Supreme Court has declared it does not have the authority to hear bail applications related to pending National Accountability Bureau (NAB) appeals. In a 30-page judgment authored by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, the court ruled that all such pending criminal appeals are to be transferred to the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).

"This court has no jurisdiction to take cognisance in the NAB cases in terms of Article 175F (a) of the Constitution, read with Section 32 and 32-A of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999," the ruling stated. The decision was made by a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Mazhar and including Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan.

The ruling addressed two petitions. One was filed by NAB itself, challenging an acquittal by the Peshawar High Court. The second petition came from an under-trial prisoner, Aamir Mahmood, who contested the Islamabad High Court's denial of his post-arrest bail. This judgment effectively settles a long-standing jurisdictional dispute concerning the handling of NAB appeals.

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This court has no jurisdiction to take cognisance in the NAB cases in terms of Article 175F (a) of the Constitution, read with Section 32 and 32-A of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.