ISLAMABAD: The Supr­eme Court on Monday orde­red National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry to offer ‘premature retirement’ as an option to at least nine officers whose appointment to the bureau “suffers from inherent disqualification”.

“We do not want to damage the career of any of them because they have served the bureau,” observed Jus­tice Amir Hani Muslim, heading a three-judge Supr­eme Court bench that had taken suo motu action against alleged illegal appointments and out-of-turn promotions in NAB.

The matter was initiated by the then Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali on an anonymous letter, drawing the court’s attention towards the appointment on deputation of 16 former military officers — to posts in grades 21 and 22 — out of the total 32 officers working in similar grades.

At the last hearing on March 22, the Supreme Court had asked NAB counsel Khawaja Mohammad Haris to examine the report furnished by Establishment Division Secretary Syed Tahir Shahbaz, acknowledging inconsistencies in 273 out of a total of 1,719 appointments, promotions, inductions, deputations, absorptions and contract appointments in NAB.

In response, NAB admitted inherent discrepancies in the appointment of nine officers, since they were not in conformity with the principles laid down by the court in different judgements.

Khawaja Haris, however, clarified that the NAB chairman had no legal authority to ask officers to avail premature retirement.

Bureau admits nine officers did not meet criteria at time of induction

When the case was taken up on Monday, Justice Muslim asked the chairman to call each officer and give them the option to opt for retirement with complete pension benefits, or come out with a strong justification for retaining them.

“In case the court hand[s] down the order, these officers would lose retirement benefits,” Justice Muslim cautioned, saying discrepancies in initial appointments could not be reconciled.

The court said it would deal with inconsistencies in award of promotions in the second phase of the hearing.

On Monday, the Estab­lishment Division secretary offered to sit with the NAB chairman and counsel to come up with a viable solution, saying the bureau was an institution of national importance whose functioning could not be impaired.

The court provided an opportunity to each officer to clarify their position.

Hafiz S.A. Rehman, representing Director General (Awareness and Prevention) Aliya Rashid, argued that his client was appointed in recognition of her meritorious services in representing Pakistan as a tennis player. Later, she was retained in the bureau in compliance with earlier apex court directions in 2011.

She was appointed in NAB directly on the recommendation of former Prime Minis­ter Mir Zafarullah Jamali, he explained.

“Do the directives of the prime minister enjoy a higher status than the law?” Justice Muslim inquired, citing the example of a sportsman who was appointed ASI and promoted to the rank of inspector after winning two kabaddi matches against India. “Thank God he did not win a third time, or he would have been appointed inspector general,” the court observed.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa obse­rved that instead of NAB, the officer should have been appointed in the Olympic Committee or, if she was a competent sportswoman, she could be appointed director in any sports-related body. Justice Isa also asked whether any advertisement was issued before her appointment.

NAB admitted that none of the nine officers had the requisite qualifications on the date of their appointment and were consequently not entitled to promotions.

The case will be taken up again on Tuesday and the NAB chairman has been required to remain in attendance.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2017