ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has proposed the name of Justice retired Ejaz Chaudhry for the slot of Chairman National Accountability Bureau.

He proposed the name in a meeting with Opposition Leader Khurshid Shah in Islamabad on Saturday.

The two leaders also discussed the name of former Chief Justice Ajmal Mian for the coveted slot. The opposition leader had proposed the name to the government the name in a similar meeting on Friday.

Later speaking to reporters, the opposition leader said he has no serious objections on the name of Ejaz Chaudhry but deliberations are required to bring a consensus and uncontroversial figure to the important slot of Chairman NAB.

The key post of the chief of the national anti-graft watchdog has been vacant since May 28 this year after the Supreme Court removed the previous chairman, retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari.

NAB has been facing multiple problems due to the absence of chairman as it cannot file any fresh reference and cannot go for appeals which should be filed within days of a court order after duly signed by the chairman and the prosecutor general.

The Supreme Court had earlier taken notice that major operations of NAB had come to a halt in the absence of a chairman and asked the government to make the appointment as early as possible or “be ready to face consequences in the light of a decision of a five-member bench.”

The government had sought a one-week time which ended on Friday.

According to the constitution, the chief of the country’s top anti-graft body is appointed after due consultation between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition.

A source told Dawn that four names proposed earlier, two each by the government and the opposition, had been rejected and now there was two names on the table — Justice retired Ajmal Mian and Justice retired Ejaz Chaudhry.

The government had earlier proposed the names of retired Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery and former federal secretary Khwaja Zaheer Ahmed and the opposition the name of retired Justice Bhagwandas and retired Justice Sardar Raza.

Justice Ajmal Mian,79, remained the acting chief justice of the Supreme Court from Feb 28, 1997, to March 4, 1997; from May 30, 1997, to June 19, 1997; from Oct 10, 1997, to Oct 13, 1997; and from Dec 3, 1997, to Dec 23, 1997. He was made permanent chief justice on Dec 23, 1997, and retired on June 30, 1999.

The role of Justice Ajmal Mian became controversial when he reportedly allowed a coup within the Supreme Court against Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah in Nov 1997 when Mr Nawaz Sharif was the prime minister.

A senior PPP leader told Dawn that the name of Ajmal Mian was proposed by the PPP after Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan opposed another PPP nominee, retired Supreme Court judge Sardar Raza.