ISLAMABAD, Sept 5: The Supreme Court gave the government on Thursday until Sept 13 to appoint chairman of the National Accountability Bureau which has been without a head for over three months.

In a related development, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Ahmed Shah held a meeting but could not reach a consensus on the name for the post of NAB chairman. According to sources, the prime minister asked Mr Shah to suggest two more names on which they would hold another meeting before the apex court’s deadline.

During the hearing on Thursday of a case relating to implementation of its verdict in the rental power projects (RPP) scam, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry regretted that major operations of NAB had come to a halt because of the absence of its chairman.

“We are insisting on the appointment of NAB chairman as early as possible as many implications are arising,” the chief justice said.

He said the attorney general had requested for adjournment of the case and that the delay was being caused by procedural formalities, but the competent authority should ensure the appointment of NAB chairman by Sept 13.

The last NAB chief, retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari, was removed on May 28 after the court declared his appointment illegal and unconstitutional.

At the last hearing on June 26, the chief justice had come down hard on the attorney general over the delay and ordered that a new chairman be appointed in three months.

On Thursday, Attorney General Munir A. Malik informed the court that the prime minister and the leader of the opposition wanted to appoint as NAB chief a person who should be internationally acclaimed and had a good reputation in the country. “Both sides are negotiating but we know that NAB operations have been paralysed. I request the court to give some more time,” he said.

The chief justice asked whether the bureau was working and how its officials were getting their salaries.

NAB Prosecutor General K.K. Agha said NAB officials were getting their salary, but its deputy chairman, who was commanding authority at the moment, was not qualified to become the NAB chairman.

Under the NAB ordinance, prosecution and investigation were continuing, but “we are facing many hurdles because we cannot file fresh references against senior government officials,” he said.

Mr Agha said only the NAB chairman could sign a reference before its filing in a court of law and issue orders for the arrest of senior government officials.

One of the major problems, he said, was pertaining to the filing of appeals which required signatures of the chairman and prosecutor general of NAB.

MEETING: Opposition Leader Khusheed Shah, who had attended a farewell reception given to President Asif Ali Zardari in the Prime Minister House, met Prime Minister Sharif and discussed with him the issue of appointment of NAB chairman.

A source close to the opposition leader told Dawn that Mr Shah had no new name to suggest when he met the prime minister because it had been decided earlier that Mr Sharif would first propose two more names. “When Mr Sharif visited the residence of Khursheed Shah on Aug 23 it was decide that the former would suggest two more names and it would be reciprocated by the latter,” the source said.

He said the opposition leader was of the view that he should suggest new names after a through homework so that no-one could raise any objection to them. “It is quite difficult to find a person who is non-controversial and non-partisan and acceptable to the other side (the government),” Mr Shah was quoted as saying.

Earlier the government had proposed the names of retired Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery and former federal secretary Khawaja Zaheer Ahmed.

The opposition suggested the names of retired Justice Bhagwandas and retired Justice Sardar Raza.

But the name of Mr Bhagwandas, who served as chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission, has become controversial because under the FPSC law its chairman cannot hold any other government office after retirement.

The name of Justice Raza was not acceptable to the government and that of Justice Jaffery to the opposition on different grounds.

Mr Bhagwandas and Khawaja Zaheer later expressed their inability to accept the post of NAB chairman.