ISLAMABAD, Dec 2: After the Supreme Court order for investigation against the National Accountability Bureau chairman and the Federal Tax Ombudsman for their objectionable role in the NICL scam, the government is in a quandary over how to handle the situation.

“Since the two officials are holding constitutional positions, the government can neither replace nor remove them after their indictment by the apex court. Hence it is left with no option but to keep silent for the moment,” a government official told Dawn.

In its Nov 22 verdict, the apex court had held NAB Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry and FTO Abdul Rauf Chaudhry guilty in the National Insurance Company Limited case relating to illegal appointments and obstruction in fair investigation.

The court recommended action against them under Section 9 (a) (vi) of the NAB Ordinance. The section refers to “misuse” of authority “so as to gain any benefit or favour” for oneself or for any other person or “to render or attempt to do so”.

The official said the only option left with the government was to use the SC decision against the two officials and file references with the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) for their removal. But the official was of the opinion that the government would not do so because the NAB chief had been appointed after due consultations with Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Ahmed Shah and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself had picked Rauf Chaudhry to head a three-member commission for the selection of heads of government sector organisations.

Like the judges of superior courts, the NAB chairman and the FTO can only be removed by filing references against them in the SJC. For example, the government had last week decided to move a reference against Yasmeen Abbasy, Federal Ombudsperson for the protection of women against harassment at workplaces. Ms Abbasy is accused of keeping the Supreme Court in dark about the development in Swiss cases against former president Asif Ali Zardari when she was law secretary.

The SJC, headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, comprises two most senior judges of the Supreme Court and two most senior chief justices of high courts. The SC registrar acts as its secretary.

The other way out and the easier one, the official said, was that the NAB chairman and the FTO themselves resigned citing the court decision.

Legal lacunae apart, the government in the process is suffering on two ends: it’s proclaimed campaign against corruption through NAB and the selection process of heads of government sector organisations. Following the SC decision, the government was in a catch-22 situation; its hands were tied, the official said.

Both the NAB chief and FTO have gone on leave and NAB, in compliance with the SC order, has constituted a special committee for investigation against them.

It is an irony that the government has made the two appointments following the Supreme Court’s earlier decisions. The court had directed the government to ensure fair process in the appointment to top positions.

Considered as a bureaucrat with clean record, Rauf Chaudhry was given the task of selecting heads of government sector organisations in July this year.

Interestingly, the offices of three ombudspersons -- Federal Ombudsman, Federal Tax Ombudsman and Federal Ombudsperson for the protection of women against harassment at workplaces -- are currently ineffective.

Federal Ombudsman Salman Farooqi is currently abroad for medical treatment and a case is also pending in the Supreme Court against his appointment.

Besides Abdul Rauf and Qamar Zamana, the SC also ordered that proceedings be initiated against former commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim and several former officials.