Appointment of NAB chairman: consultation with opposition leader is necessary: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that consulting leader of opposition in National Assembly over appointment of chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was necessary. A four-member bench headed by Justice Javed Iqbal and comprising Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Justice Asif Saeed Khosa was hearing different petitions against appointment of incumbent NAB chairman, Syed Deedar Hussein Shah.
Abdul Hafiz Pirzada, the counsel for federation told the bench the incumbent NAB chairman has a spotless record as a judge of Sindh High Court and then as the judge of Supreme Court. He said that the consultation in the judicial process and the political process was different. "You can't equate consultation in appointment of judges with the appointment on any executive post. Most of the functions of NAB chairman are of executive nature," he added.
When Justice Khosa said that chairman NAB was involved in plea-bargaining, the counsel said that it was the qausi judicial function, but that was also after the approval of the court. Justice Khosa remarked that the word consultation was introduced to allay the apprehensions of opposition, as in the past NAB was used for witch hunting. He also said that consultation was for developing across the board consensus.
Regarding consultation with Chief Justice of Pakistan while appointing NAB chairman, he said according to Asfand Yar Wali case the CJP had primacy in judges' appointment but not in executive posts. He said the court had power to strike down appointments on executive posts but had no power of appointment on those posts.
Justice Khosa said if leader of opposition had raised objections on Shah's appointment as NAB chairman then the prime minister after removing them should have contacted him again. The counsel said that it was not an ideal parliament, adding a country, which had gone through difficulties, should be given little time to strengthen its institutions. "You are talking about an ideal situation," he added.
When the court asked Attorney General Molvi Anwar-ul-Haq once again that whether principle secretary of prime minister had written any note on the summary sent to president for appointment of NAB chairman, he said no such noting was written by principal Secretary on the summary. The hearing was adjourned till Wednesday.