NAB chief appointment challenged in SC

Appointment of NAB chief challenged in SC; bench meets to finalise verdict on the 18th amendment.

The appointment of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (Retired) Deedar Hussain Shah was challenged in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

The petition challenging the appointment has been filed by Advocate Shahid Orakzai.

The petitioner argued that the appointment is illegal as the chief  justice and the opposition leader were not consulted about it.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry said on Wednesday, that Justice Shah's appointment violates the NRO verdict. He also said that consultation with the Chief Justice is vital in this regard.

Chaudhry had also ordered the Attorney General to explain the appointment of the chairman in the next hearing.

SC bench meets to finalise verdict on 18th amendment

A meeting of the Supreme Court Bench is being held to finalise the verdict in the long running 18th amendment cases.

There are 17 justices involved in the deliberations and they have had to consider 18 different petitions.  Each petition challenges the different clauses of the 18th Constitutional Amendment Bill 2010.

Topics that have been touched by the amendment include judicial appointments, the change of name for the old NWFP and the repeal of the so called Concert List. Political parties, lawyers and individuals have all appeared in court to push their petitions. Judgement was reserved on September 30.