ISLAMABAD:The Supreme Court on Friday struck down some amendments made to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999.

With the striking down of the amendments, the references against some of the country’s political bigwigs will once again land in the accountability courts.

Announcing its reserved verdict on the petition of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah restored the graft cases against public office holders that were closed down following the amendments.

It was a majority 2-1 verdict. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah issued a dissenting note in the NAB amendments case. In his plea, Imran Khan had challenged the amendments made to the accountability laws during the tenure of the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led government.

The court held more than 50 hearings on the PTI chief’s petition against the amendments and reserved the judgment on September 5.

The petition against NAB amendments was declared admissible by the majority decision, restoring all closed enquiries filed with the NAB.

The 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 court directed the NAB to return all records related to the cases to relevant courts within seven days. The verdict held that the NAB amendments under question affected the rights of the public listed in the Constitution.