ISLAMABAD: The Sup­reme Court on Friday sought comments from the attorney general of Pakistan on the powers of the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regarding recruitments in the country’s apex anti-corruption organisation.

Hearing a suo motu case on alleged illegal appointments in NAB, the court asked Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf Ali to assist it on powers enjoyed by the NAB chief as per Section 28 of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO) 1999.

According to Section 28, the chairman “shall not be required to consult the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) for making appointments and on matters relating to qualifications of persons for such appointments and methods of recruitments”. The NAB chief enjoys powers to “appoint such officers and staff as he may consider necessary for the efficient performance...of NAB”.

Suo motu notice

Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali took suo motu notice on a letter which claimed that 16 former military officers on deputation in BPS-20 and BPS-21 were among the 32 officers serving in NAB.

“NAB has not only violated the basic service structure and service laws scheme but also grossly put a Supreme Court order in sheer disregard vis-a-vis its appointments and promotions,” the letter said.

Highlighting Section 28 of the 1999 ordinance and NAB’s Terms and Conditions of Service 2002, the letter claimed that the rules had been designed to serve the purpose of accommodating those who otherwise were not qualified for posts which they were holding.

To make an entity operationally independent, the letter said, the appointment procedure should be kept within dictates of the Constitution as enshrined in Article 242 which necessitated appointments through the FPSC.

“But in total disregard of the Constitution, the NAB chairman has been made the sole authority to make appointments in any manner he desires,” it said.

According to the letter, officials — majority of them former military officers on deputation — had been posted in OPS in higher grades, particularly directors general of various regional NAB offices.

A majority of them were brought to NAB on deputation for three years — from 1999 to 2002 — but later absorbed permanently, including retired Col Sirajul Naeem, retired Maj Shehzad Saleem, retired Brig Hadeed, retired Maj Tariq Mehmood Malik, retired Maj Syed Burhan, retired Maj Masood Ahmed Lodhi, retired Maj Shabeer Ahmed, Squadron Leader Karamat, Squadron Leader Irshadul Haq, retired Col Subah Sadiq, retired Col Bhehzad Anwer Bhatti, retired Squadron Leader Tariq Nadeem Bhatti, retired Capt Farrukh, Amir Shah, Syed Muhammad Hussain, Abdul Hafeez Siddiqi, Muhammad Salim, Altaf Bawani and Nawazish Ali Asim.

The letter claimed that NAB “appeared immune from all the SC judgements and directives, as well as policies of the Establishment Division, and no authority had so far been able to question its style of awarding promotions to former military servicemen and favourites”.

The next hearing has been scheduled for Oct 24.

Published in Dawn September 24th, 2016