Islamabad (Web Desk): Seven former prime ministers, including the Sharif brothers,Ministers Yousaf Raza Gilani, Shaukat Aziz, Shahid Khaqqan Abbasi, Raja Pervez Ashraf, and Shujaat Hussain, who reaped the benefits of the NAB amendments, have come on the radar after the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday declared nine out of 10 amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999 null and void.
References against former President Asif Ali Zardari, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani were revived after Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial declared the NAB amendments null and void. The NAB laws amendments were enacted during the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government’s tenure.
The list of beneficiaries from these amendments extends beyond the ex PMs and encompasses many notable political figures including former minsters, senators, member of national assembly (MNA) and bureaucrats.
Among the notable beneficiaries of these amendments are Hamza Shahbaz, former president Asif Zardari's close associates Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed and former finance minister Shaukat Tarin.
Senator Abdul Qadir, Senator Rubina Khalid, Senator Yusuf Baloch are also among those who may face cases following the top court's ruling.
Cases against former finance minister Saleem Mandviwalla, former MNA Farzana Raja, former Provincial Minister Rehmat Ali, Asfand Yar Khan Kakar, and former Punjab Assembly Speaker Sibtain Khan will also be restored.
The list also includes the names of Nawab Aslam Raisani and Lashkari Raisani. Cases involving Caretaker Prime minister Kakar and Arbab Alamgir were either closed or transferred to the NAB.
Additionally, in the Toshakhana reference, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, a co-accused, benefited from these amendments at the request of former premier Gilani.
After the verdict, references against Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Maryam Nawaz, Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Rana Sanaullah, Javed Latif, Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Aamir Mahmood Kayani, Akram Durrani have also been restored.
Furthermore, numerous bureaucrats also benefited from the so-called reforms. Many government officials had their cases closed as a result of the amendments implemented during the tenure of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led coalition government.
