Reappointments at NAB: Govt likely to promote deputy as NAB chief

Bureau paralysed in the absence of senior officials to lead investigations.

ISLAMABAD:

The government is likely to reappoint Deputy Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Javed Kazi as the new chairman while Deputy Prosecutor General Akbar Tarrar may be promoted as the prosecutor general to fill the void created by the Supreme Court’s directives.

The law ministry has recommended the NAB deputy chairman and acting prosecutor general for promotion, according to a senior official. Kazi will reach the retirement age on April 30, while Tarrar’s contract will end on April 29. Tarrar has been the de facto prosecutor general after Irfan Qadir was removed on the Supreme Court’s directive last year.

The government has filed a review in the apex court challenging the lifetime bar on former chairman Deedar Shah. The appointment of a new chairman for NAB is likely to give rise to legal complications since the matter is still being considered in court.

The NAB Ordinance 1999 bars extensions for contract employees, an official said. However, they can be appointed on other posts in the bureau.

Over 1,600 cases being heard by various courts are likely to stall by the departure of the deputy chief and the acting prosecutor general in the government’s view, considering that NAB is stumbling along without a chairman and key departmental heads have already been repatriated to their parent organisations. If Kazi and Tarrar leave, there will be no other officer to supervise all the cases being heard in accountability courts, the official observed.

A total of 2,471 cases have been filed since 2008, out of there has been no headway in the inquiries of 578 cases.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2011.