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ISLAMABAD: The law ministry has sent a summary to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani about the appointment of recently-retired Supreme Court judge Justice Javed Iqbal as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.
Sources privy to the development told Dawn on Monday that the government had earlier decided to appoint a retired judge of the apex court, Sardar Raza Khan, as NAB chief, but changed its mind after the retirement of Justice Iqbal.“We are considering three names and Justice Iqbal is one of them,” Law Minister Moula Bakhsh Chandio said, adding that he would be the 'best' choice.
The sources said the law ministry had sent a summary to the prime minister a month ago about the appointment of Justice Raza and this had been confirmed by adviser to the law minister Farooq Awan. But the prime minister did not approve it and directed the law ministry to include the name of Justice Iqbal in the summary.
Answering a question about the constitutional requirement of consulting with Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on the proposed name, Mr Chandio said: “We will seek the opposition's consent on the name of justice Iqbal.” But, he added, the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N was reluctant to sit with the government on the issue.
Asked if he had discussed the issue with Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the law minister said he had met the chief justice after a meeting of the Supreme Judicial Council but had not discussed with him the NAB chief's appointment.
