Ch. Imran Hassan Ali, ASC, had initial success at the Supreme Court on 01-11-2019 at the preliminary hearing of a Constitution Petition that challenges the National Command Authority (Amendment) Act, 2016, as being unconstitutional. After hearing preliminary submissions, the Court issued notice to the Attorney General for Pakistan.
The amendment Act was promulgated to nullify a judgment of the Supreme Court in Shafique Ahmed Khan and others vs. NESCOM etc (PLD 2016 SC 377), which had declared that the rules governing terms and conditions of service of NCA employees were statutory. The Act declares that these rules are non-statutory. It is aimed at creating a Master and Sevant relationship between NCA and its employees, including employees of the 13 strategic organisations that are controlled by NCA. If allowed to stand, this amendment will oust the jurisdiction of the High Courts in cases of wrongful dismissal or removal from service and other grievances of NCA employees.
Update: On 23-01-2020, a differently constituted bench of the Supreme Court disposed of this Constitution Petition after allowing the Petitioner to amend his Writ Petition already pending before the Lahore High Court and directed the High Court to decide the question of vires of the NCA (Amendment) Act, 2016.