ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan challenged the appointment of Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chaudhry Qamar Zaman in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, DawnNews reported.

Hamid Khan Advocate, the counsel for the PTI chief, submitted a constitutional petition challenging the appointment of Zaman in the apex court today. The federation and the NAB chief were made respondents in the application.

The petition presented the stance of the PTI and stated that Zaman's appointment was made in violation of Article 6 of the NAB Ordinance, adding that all the necessary legal requirements to appoint the bureau's chairman had not been met.

The application moreover said that the court should declare Zaman’s appointment illegal and announce the post of NAB chief as vacant.

Separately, the application stated that the current Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah was just a representative of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Earlier on October 9, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Khursheed Shah had finally agreed on Zaman's name for the new chief of the country’s main anti-corruption body.

The decision had been rejected by the PTI, Pakistan Muslim League - Quaid (PML-Q) and Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) who called the agreement a ‘shifty deal’ between the N-League and the PPP.

On October 10, the PTI had announced that it would challenge Zaman's appointment to the position of the NAB chairman in the Supreme Court.

The PTI has been arguing that Zaman who was picked to head NAB lacked the credentials required for the challenging assignment of carrying out accountability in a fair and transparent manner.

Earlier, PTI spokesperson Dr Shireen Mazari had said the manner in which the appointment had been made was neither in accordance with the spirit of the NAB Ordinance nor completely legal. The NAB Ordinance, 1999, as it stands today states that: a person shall not be appointed as Chairman NAB unless he (i) is a retired Chief Justice or a judge of the Supreme Court or a Chief Justice of a High Court, or (ii) is a retired officer of the armed forces equivalent to the rank of a Lieutenant General; or (iii) is a retired federal government officer in BPS-22 or equivalent.

Zaman had applied for retirement from the position of federal interior secretary after his selection was made by the government and opposition and the process was hastily completed within 24 hours.

“This was done to defeat the letter and spirit of the law,” Dr Mazari had said. Dr Mazari had moreover argued since it was part of the official record that Zaman had closely worked with both PML-N and PPP governments, therefore, by all means he was ‘unsuited’ for the position.