Changes in NAB: Govt struggles to find new prosecutor general

Search begins as Waqas Qadeer Dar is set to retire next month

ISLAMABAD: With much hype centered around the appointment of a new chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the government is also in consultation, albeit quietly, with relevant quarters for the appointment of a new prosecutor general of the country’s top graft buster.

NAB Chairman Chaudhary Qamar Zaman is retiring this month and the government will appoint his replacement in consultation with the opposition. However, for appointing the prosecutor general the government is required to consult the NAB chairman.

Current Prosecutor General Waqas Qadeer Dar is retiring next month. Sources confirmed to The Express Tribune the government has contacted its trusted lawyers, offering them to become prosecutor general. However, according to the sources, no name has been firmed up.

Sources said the government had contacted Mustafa Ramday, the son of former SC Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday for the position, but he also declined.



The sources claimed two Punjab law officers were offered the job but both of them declined. They cited the prevailing situation – when the ruling party chief Nawaz Sharif and sitting Finance Minister Ishaq Dar are being tried by NAB – as the reason, why the lawyers would be reluctant to take the job.

“I think no credible lawyer would like to be PG NAB in the prevailing situation, wherein prosecution has the key role in Panamagate case,” a senior government official admitted while talking to The Express Tribune. He revealed that three lawyers have so far, recused from becoming the NAB prosecutor general.

Waqas Dar is completing his three-year term as prosecutor general in November. Though NAB faced tough time in the superior courts during the last couple of years, Dar’s conduct has never been questioned.

Other sources suggested that the names of incumbent Islamabad Advocate General Mian Abdul Rauf, Federal Additional Attorney General Waqar Rana, and Zahid Ebrahim are now under consideration for the new NAB PG.



Legal experts say opposition parties and the media are currently focused on the appointment of the NAB chairman, but the appointment of a prosecutor general is equally important.

Meanwhile, NAB sources claimed the watchdog did not receive any fruitful response to the mutual legal assistance (MLA) requests sent by Panamagate case joint investigation team (JIT).

The JIT had sent MLA requests to six countries during its 60-day investigation into the Sharif family’s offshore assets, including British Virgin Islands, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Switzerland and Luxemburg.