SC takes notice of delay in appointment of NAB prosecutor general

The key post has been lying vacant since November 2017

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has taken notice of delay in the appointment of new prosecutor general (PG) of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

A bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmad, while hearing the bail application of an accused in a modaraba scam, asked the attorney general to ascertain the government stance regarding delay in the appointment. The court will take up the matter on Monday.

The development came amid a deadlock between the government and the NAB chairman on the appointment of prosecutor general of the accountability watchdog.



The post has been vacant since November when the three-year tenure of Waqas Qadeer Dar had ended. Under the law, the federal government must make the appointment after consulting the NAB chairman.

A senior NAB official told The Express Tribune that the filing of cases by the bureau had almost stopped due to the absence of the PG. Under the law, no appeal can be filed in any court without the approval of the top prosecutor. He said that in view of a high court order, an additional PG could not work as acting PG.

According to sources, the attorney general had contacted the government regarding the need for early appointment of the PG as NAB’s Special Prosecutor Imranul Haq appeared before the court on Wednesday.

Last month, NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal sent a list of five lawyers to the government to pick from. He proposed the names of Mudassir Khalid Abbasi, Shah Khawar, Syed Asghar Haider, Fasihul Mulk and Nasir Saeed Sheikh. But the government has yet to take the decision.

The sources claimed that the Sharif family wanted to appoint a lawyer of its own choice but the chairman was unwilling to accept this.

During the hearing, the SC bench also noted that the post of the judge of the Accountability Court-2 had been vacant since September.



It said the tenure of Accountability Court-1 judge Muhammad Bashir was also ending soon and asked whether the government had taken any step for the appointment of a new judge. Judge Bashir is conducting the trial of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his children in the Panamagate cases.

Meanwhile, another bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, summoned the chief secretary and secretaries of mines and environment of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday over non-implementation of a court order regarding cutting of trees on Maragalla Hills.

The bench noted that there were complaints regarding the award of lease for mining in K-P.

The chief justice said the SC would focus on issues related to health and education in 2018.