News
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Nawaz opens consultation process for appointment of NAB chairman* PM writes letter to Khursheed Shah, proposes names of Justice (r) Rehmat Hussain Jaffery, Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed for NAB chief
By Farooq Awan
ISLAMABAD: The PML-N-PPP working relationship after the May 11 general election was put to first test on Tuesday as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent to a letter to Opposition Leader in National Assembly Khursheed Shah for appointment of new chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
The prime minister has proposed the names of Justice (r) Rehmat Hussain Jaffery and Khwaja Zaheer Ahmed for the post of NAB chairman.
The post of NAB chairman fell vacant in May this year after the Supreme Court nullified the appointment of Admiral (r) Fasih Bokhari on a petition filed by Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on the grounds that the requirement of holding consultation with the opposition leader was not fulfilled.
Bokhari was the second chairman to be ousted by the top court after Justice (r) Deedar Hussain Shah, whose appointment was declared as illegal by the Supreme Court in March 2011, again on a petition filed by Chaudhry Nisar.
Justice (r) Jaffery headed the tribunal that handed down life sentence to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Pervez Musharraf plane hijacking case. The Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2009.
Justice (r) Jaffery belongs to Larkana and is thought to be close to President Asif Ali Zardari. The president had approved his elevation to the Supreme Court in 2009.
Khwaja Zaheer Ahmed, on the other hand, is a retired bureaucrat. His name was proposed by the previous PML-N government for interim chief minister of the Punjab province. PPP had, however, rejected his nomination.
After the passage of 18th Amendment, consultation with the opposition leader is mandatory for the appointment of NAB chairman, which hands over the PPP an important card to play especially at a time when the ruling party looks set to reopen Swiss cases against President Asif Ali Zardari and has already filed an appeal with the Swiss authorities against their decision of closing the cases once and for all.
Soon after taking over the reins of the government, the PML-N has been raising voice for a transparent and across-the-board accountability. The PPP is very sensitive to the accountability process because it fears that PML-N may open old corruption cases against Zardari once he loses his presidential immunity after completion of his term in September. Besides, the whole five-year tenure of the PPP is littered with corruption scandals. The RPPs case, Ephedrine scandal, Hajj quota scandal, Tauqir Sadiq case and lately Rs 40 billion EOBI corruption scandal are a few to name.
Justice (r) Jaffery is being dubbed as hot favourite for the post. Sources in the PPP said the party has apparently no objection to his appointment. Jaffery’s appointment is also not likely to face any resistance from the judicial circles, as he is thought to be in good books of the top judge too.
The Supreme Court, in the NRO case verdict, had observed that the chief justice should also be consulted in the appointment of the NAB chairman.
However, the opposition leader, in his instant response to the prime minister’s letter, has raised the concern that the government has altogether ignored the names proposed by the opposition for the post. Khursheed Shah said he had proposed the names of Justice (r) Mamoon Qazi and Justice (r) Sardar Raza for the post. The prime minister didn’t consider our proposal, he added. The names were forwarded after consultation with the MQM, PTI and the ANP, he claimed.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk