KARACHI, July 30: The National Accountability Bureau should be headed by a retired superior court judge, Sindh High Court Bar Association President Abrar Hasan demanded on Monday.

Talking to reporters, he said 2007 being an election year, the bureau would be playing an important role in screening politicians. He said the SHCBA would soon hold a seminar on the performance the NAB.

The SHCBA chief criticised the meeting held by the new NAB chairman, Naveed Ahsan, with Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim in the Chief Minister’s House.

He said a number of complaints were pending against the CM and it was highly inappropriate on the NAB chairman’s part to see the respondent. The meeting was bound to give rise to suspicions about the NAB’s impartiality in conducting investigations against influential politicians. Such meetings compromised the process of accountability, he said.

He denied a report that Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry would be visiting Karachi on Aug 12 or 13 at the invitation of the SHCBA.

He said the association had extended an invitation to the CJ for Aug 18, when the SHCBA would hold its twice-postponed SC golden jubilee function.