ISLAMABAD: The law ministry has advised Prime Minister Imran Khan to accord extension to the chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) through a presidential ordinance till the appointment of new chief.
Sources informed Pakistan Today that on Thursday, the prime minister chaired a meeting to discuss the appointment of new NAB chairman. They said that the law ministry has drafted an ordinance to extend the tenure of NAB chairman until a new chairman is appointed.
Under the proposed ordinance, Justice (R) Javed Iqbal will continue working as NAB chief till the appointment of a new chairman.
As per Article 6 of NAB Ordinance, 1999, the term of NAB chairman cannot be extended, the sources added.
Earlier, Law Minister Dr Farogh Nasim had said that no draft ordinance has been prepared to extend the tenure of NAB chairman. Nasim had said that the issue of extending the tenure of NAB chairman has been discussed with the prime minister many times and a decision would be made during the current week. He had also said that the choice of the name of NAB chairman is at the discretion of prime minister and “I can only advise the prime minister on this whole issue.
“The prime minister will consider more than one name for the post of NAB chairman,” the law minister had said.
Sources in the law ministry said that there is a strong possibility of keeping the opposition leader out of the consultation for appointment of NAB chairman. “Since opposition leader himself is prime accused in many NAB cases, no consultation could be made with him for appointment of NAB chairman as it would be a conflict of interest,” the sources said.
According to the sources, an ordinance is likely to be issued soon by the government to exclude the opposition leader on the issue of appointment of NAB chairman or grant an extension to the NAB chairman till the issue of appointment of new NAB chief is sorted out.
