The Supreme Court Thursday dismissed the plea filed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)  government seeking live streaming of the hearing of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) amendment case. The application, filed by KP advocate general, was rejected by the apex court in a 4-1 verdict with Justice Athar Minallah disagreeing with the majority judgement. 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 Toshakhana reference, didn't go without controversy as the SC administration announced launching an investigation after his image, while appearing before the court, was leaked on social media.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan