NAB chief: Law ministry issues notice of appointment

PTI will challenge the appointment of Qamar Zaman in the SC.

ISLAMABAD:

The law ministry has notified appointment of Qamar Zaman Chaudhry as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Thursday.

“The notification for the appointment of new NAB Chief has been issued,” confirmed Law Secretary Justice (retd) Raza Khan. Under the NAB Ordinance, a NAB chairman cannot be removed from his office in the midstream. He has to complete his four-year tenure which is extendable. The only exception is under Article 209 and through the Supreme Judicial Council, in which the NAB chief can be removed from this post.

The post had been lying vacant since May 28 this year. After consultation with the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had nominated Interior Secretary Qamar Zaman Chaudhry as the new NAB Chief earlier this week. President Mamnoon Hussain, on PM’s advice, has signed the summary for the appointment on Wednesday.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to challenge appointment of the new NAB Chief, giving a number of reasons for that.

PTI spokesperson Dr Shireen Mazari stated in an official statement that the process to appoint Qamar Zaman as the new chief was done to defeat the letter and spirit of the law as he applied for retirement after his announcement was made and the process was hastily completed within 24 hours.

“PTI will go to the Supreme Court against this appointment and has already directed its lawyers to prepare the case for immediate filing,” the statement said, adding that there exists a pending contempt notice of the Supreme Court against Qamar Zaman, a copy of which is available with PTI.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2013.