News
Friday, March 11, 2011
SC declares appointment of NAB chairman illegal* Apex court orders Justice (r) Deedar Shah to cease to hold the office forthwith
By Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday declared the appointment of Justice (r) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman illegal and unconstitutional and ordered him to immediately step down from his position.
A three-member bench, headed by Justice Javed Iqbal, in a short order stated: “For the reasons to be recorded separately, these petitions are accepted and the appointment of Justice (r) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah as NAB chairman is hereby declared illegal and ultra vires and he shall cease to hold the said office forthwith.”
This is the second case during the current year in which the federation faced defeat despite enjoying the services of Abdul Hafiz Pirzada, an eminent lawyer.
Leader of opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, and Shahid Orakzai, a journalist, had challenged the appointment of NAB chairman.
Nisar had contended that the spirit of Section 6 of the NAO had not been adhered to because the appointment had been made despite his opposition on the grounds that Shah was known for his long association with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
Shah is a retired Supreme Court (SC) judge and has twice been elected to the provincial assembly of Sindh on a PPP ticket – a fact that points to his being a partial character. Hailing from Larkana, Shah was one of the closest friends of the party’s founding father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
It is worth mentioning that Shah was Sindh High Court chief justice when former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf’s government had filed a hijacking case against PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif.
The court awarded life imprisonment and the government filed a review petition seeking death penalty.
Meanwhile, Shah was elevated as a judge of the SC. Shah was the first NAB chairman belonging to the judiciary. In pursuance of the judgment, passed by the SC in Mubashar Hassan’s case on December 16, 2009, the then NAB chairman Naveed Ahsan resigned from his post in February 2010.
After Naveed’s retirement, Javed Qazi, NAB deputy chairman, took over as NAB acting chairman.
The bench announced its short order after conclusion of arguments by the counsels for both parties.
Earlier, Pirzada resumed his arguments and said that appointment of the NAB chairman did not infringe upon the fundamental rights of any individual and the issue could not be treated under fundamental rights.
He said the article relating to right to life could not be extended to an appointment of this nature as prayed by the petitioners. The learned counsel said the court had the power to strike down appointments on executive posts but not the judicial appointments.
“Shah had an unblemished record as Sindh High Court judge and then that of Supreme Court,” Pirzada concluded.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk