A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Amir Hani Muslim on Monday heard a suo motu case pertaining to 'illegal' appointments and promotions of National Accountability Bureau officials.

After hearing arguments and reviewing data on irregular appointments and promotions in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the bench ordered the authority's chairman to present the option of an early retirement to at least nine officials found to be promoted in contravention of the accountability watchdog's educational criteria.

Justice Muslim also remarked that if the officers do not consent to early retirement, the court will be forced to rule against them, in which case they will not be able to benefit from the perks and benefits of formally resigning from their job.

During the hearing, the bench took particular notice of the appointment of Aliya Rashid as the accountability watchdog's director general of awareness and prevention.

Taking note of Rashid's prior history as a sportsperson, Justice Muslim asked how Rashid had been appointed to NAB, to which the defence lawyer said that she had been appointed by former prime minister Zafarullah Jamali in 2003.

Justice Muslim retorted saying that no matter where the orders of appointment come from, "they need to be within the limits defined by law, and this appointment was not."

Recalling another case pertaining to a kabbadi playing policeman who had been promoted because he "won a match against India", Justice Muslim sarcastically remarked that he was grateful that the policeman in question did not play any further matches "or he would have been appointed the inspector general of police".

Justice Muslim further said that NAB had been systemically destroyed because of such appointments and that if the institution had maintained strict standards and followed official procedures, more competent people would have been running the show.

"Sportspersons should be encouraged and celebrated, not appointed to government posts in contravention of the law," he observed.

Softening his criticism a bit, Justice Muslim suggested that a sports cell could be set up in NAB and its charge given to Aliya Rashid in view of her past experience.

"How can NAB appoint individuals who do not fulfill its educational requirements?" Justice Muslim asked as he addressed the NAB chairman. "We're not saying you made the appointments, but as chairman of the authority, you will have to accept responsibility," he said.

"Will you be de-notifying these promotions and appointments then?" he further asked. "The only concession we can make is offering these individuals a pension," he added.

The chairman was ordered to inform the court about the officials' answers in the next hearing of the case, which will be held tomorrow (Tuesday).

A renowned former tennis star, Aliya Rashid won the World Junior Championship in Sri Lanka in 1984 and participated in the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament in 1985. She was also the national tennis champion from 1981 to 1986.

Rashid joined NAB on deputation in BS-18 in June 2003 and was later promoted to BS-19. She petitioned the Supreme Court in 2009 citing discrimination when she was passed over for a promotion to BS-20.

She said she was denied a promotion on the grounds that she had not attended the National Institute of Public Administration course, even though many other officers had been promoted by NAB despite them not having taken the course either.

A three-judge bench comprising then Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan and Justice Nasirul Mulk had ordered NAB not to discriminate against Rashid and exempted her from the requirement, leading to her promotion as the director general of NAB's awareness and prevention cell.

Read more: NAB told to promote female officer to next grade

Rashid, who has been at the forefront of NAB's awareness campaign, is known for her unconventional approach to ridding the country of corruption.

She has said in the past that she wants to paint every wall in the country with anti-corruption slogans.

In a past lecture at the Ministry of National Health Services, she also admonished women for pushing their husbands and fathers to buy cars, houses, mobile phones etc, "just to compete with relatives or neighbours".

“It is like pushing a wheel-chair bound person to run," she had said. "Every man wants to be a hero in the eyes of his wife and children, so they try to fulfil the demands of their family members by using fair and unfair means,” she had stated as an explanation for why people resort to corrupt practices.

More recently, a proposal from her office had asked the national flag-carrier — Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) — to play 'anti-corruption' songs as an in-flight warning to jittery passengers.

The proposal had also asked that flight stewards read out "anti-corruption messages" to send across an "effective message to God-fearing passengers", Rashid had told DawnNews in February this year.

“Before takeoff, as passengers pray for a safe journey, air hostesses will [be asked to] read out messages regarding the curse of corruption. And the passenger will resolve not to commit corruption,” she had said.