Supreme Court. PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
Four newly appointed directors general of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) continue to hold on to their posts even after an apex court verdict suspended appointments and transfers made by the interim government.
On May 22 the Supreme Court had passed an interim order suspending all transfers and appointments made during the period of the caretaker government.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chauhdry on May 22 had resumed the hearing of a petition filed by Khawaja Muhammad Asif, a leader of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz over large scale transfers and appointments by the caretakers.
However, Altaf Bahawani, DG human resources and finance, Husnain Ahmad, DG NAB Punjab, Zahir Shah, DG operations NAB headquarters and Brigadier (retd) Farooq Nasir Awan, DG NAB headquarters continue working on these posts.
The NAB’s outgoing chairman, Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari, whose appointment as the head of the watchdog was declared invalid by the SC, had hired the four DGs as regular employees on the basic pay scale (BPS)-grade 21 during the caretaker setup, despite Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) directives to NAB not to carry out any new appointments.
NAB spokesperson Ramzan Sajid told The Express Tribune that although the appointments were made during the interim setup, the recruitment process had started before establishment of the caretaker government. However, he added “If the act falls within the ambit of court orders then the bureau will comply with the SC directives in letter and spirit.”
The jobs of the prosecutor general accountability (PGA) and deputy chairman NAB have also been threatened by SC’s decision, The Express Tribune learnt.
“The NAB’s outgoing chairman had moved the name of PGA to the president and with Bokhari’s own appointment as NAB chairman declared illegal by the court, how can the recruitment of PGA be termed lawful?” asked a legal expert.
According to section 8(a) of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999, the president of Pakistan in consultation with the NAB chairman, may appoint any person, who is qualified to be appointed as prosecutor general accountability.
Defending the appointments of PGA and deputy chairman, the NAB spokesperson said that the interim orders of the SC did not declare as void any action of Bokhari as NAB chief. However, he said that the situation will be clear after the final judgment of the court in this regard.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 30th, 2013.
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