SC rules NAB appointments ‘illegal’

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan declared illegal the appointments of National Accountability Bureau Acting Chairman Javed Qazi and that of Prosecutor-General Irfan Qadir. NAB has been directed to remove both officers and to appoint new persons on the posts within a month.

The three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, had reserved its judgement after hearing the arguments presented by petitioner Khwaja Haris, who is the Advocate-General of Punjab, and the rebuttal offered by Qadir. Haris had raised objections to both appointments during the course of the hearing of the Bank of Punjab case.

The crux of Haris’ argument was that there was no provision in the law for the appointment of an acting chairman. Qazi had earlier served as NAB’s deputy chairman and was appointed acting chairman following the resignation of former chairman Naveed Ahsan.

Haris also maintained that the law did not allow for the renewal of term for the prosecutor-general. Haris argued that Qadir had completed his three-year tenure and was thus not eligible to be reappointed to the same post.

The Justice Ghulam Rabbani-authored judgement stated that both appointments were illegal and the men should be removed from office. The court has also ordered NAB to appoint a permanent chairman.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2010.