On Friday, the high court chief justice fixed the petition before Justice Ijaz Ahmad as Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh had declined to hear the case in the wake of mistrust expressed by the petitioner-counsel Barrister Jaffree.
Jaffree argued that Hussain’s appointment was made in violation of Supreme Court’s order on the National Reconciliation Ordinance under which the federal government was bound to consult the Chief Justice of Pakistan about the appointment.
He said that leader of the opposition was also not consulted and 15 provisions of the Constitution were violated while making the appointment.
Moreover, Jaffree argued that the appointment was not made on merit but on political grounds. He said Hussain had been elected MPA twice on the Pakistan People’s Party ticket and had defended President Asif Ali Zardari in corruption cases as his lawyer.
Jaffree requested that Hussain’s appointment be declared unconstitutional.
Zardari had appointed Hussain as chairman NAB on October 8. Hussain had served as chief justice of the Sindh High Court and later was elevated to the Supreme Court and is the first chairman of NAB from the judiciary.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 16th, 2010.
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