News
Thursday, June 17, 2010
SC orders govt to appoint Aftab Sultan as BoP probe headBy Masood Rehman
ISLAMABAD: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court (SC) directed the attorney general on Wednesday to approach the authorities concerned to issue a fresh notification appointing Punjab’s Additional Inspector-General Aftab Sultan as head of the investigation team probing criminal cases involving the Bank of Punjab (BoP).
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday was hearing a petition on the Rs 9 billion BoP loan scam.
Khawaja Haris, counsel for BoP, told the court that the notification issued by the Establishment Division for the appointment of Sultan in the investigation process was contrary to the previous order of the SC.
The SC, in an earlier order, had directed that Sultan would lead the probe committee. The Establishment Division had stated in a subsequent notification, however, that Mr Aftab Sultan would “assist” the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the probe. The court, after examining the objection, directed the attorney general to approach the authorities concerned for a new, amended notification.
Khawaja Haris said during his arguments that if the post of the NAB chairman becomes vacant, an acting chairman may not be appointed to it. He said that NAB Prosecutor General Irfan Qadir had previously worked at the same post, and he could therefore not be reappointed against a vacancy.
“Anyone who has had a one-time stint as prosecutor general cannot be reappointed in the same capacity,” he said. The court told Khawaja Haris that his objections could not be examined unless a written reply was submitted. The court said that in the absence of a NAB chairman, the investigation of the case was suffering, thus in the interest of justice, a permanent appointment to the slot of NAB chairman should be made. The court adjourned the hearing till June 18.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk