ISLAMABAD: The Law and Justice Ministry on Thursday, prepared a draft for extension of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman former Justice Javed Iqbal’s tenure under a Presidential Ordinance.
The sources privy to the development told Business Recorder that the draft would be presented to President Arif Alvi after its approval from Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Through the presidential ordinance, they added, the incumbent NAB chairman will be enabled to continue his duties till the appointment of the new chairman.
An official, who wished not to be named said under Section 6 (b) of the NAB Ordinance, 1999, a NAB chairman’s tenure cannot be extended, adding this was the reason the government had to issue the ordinance to pave the way for the incumbent chairman to continue his duties.
Legal experts see 'crisis' if tenure of NAB chief extended through ordinance
“The [presidential] ordinance could have been issued anytime, but the problem is that both the houses [the Senate and the National Assembly] are in session. And an ordinance cannot be issued when the house is in session,” he added.
Article 89 of the Constitution authorises that “the President may, except when Senate or National Assembly is in session, if satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action, make and promulgate an ordinance as the circumstances may require”. Earlier, Federal Law Minister Farogh Naseem had rejected media reports and clarified that his ministry had not drafted an ordinance to extend the tenure of Justice (retired) Iqbal as the NAB chief.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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