ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) objected on Monday to the Supreme Court hearing on the death of NAB’s assistant director Kamran Faisal who was assisting the court in a high-profile probe in the rental power projects (RPP) scandal which also involves Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.

“On the instructions of NAB Chairman Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari, I request that this case not be taken up by the Supreme Court, particularly by this bench,” NAB’s prosecutor general K.K. Agha said. The NAB chairman was present in the court.

The bench comprising Justice Jawwad S. Khwaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain had taken up the issue of the mysterious death of the NAB officer.

The bench was tasked by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to look into the death of Kamran Faisal whose body was found in his room at Federal Lodges in Islamabad on Jan 18.

The prosecutor general requested the court not to take up the matter, rather stay the current proceedings till next week when he would explain why the case should not be heard by the apex court, particularly by this bench.

However, he was asked by Justice Khwaja to submit a written statement instead of a verbal request and put off hearing to Friday saying the prosecutor general was NAB’s highest legal eagle and in all fairness the court should adjourn the proceedings.

Justice Hussain also suggested to the prosecutor general to express his reservations without any hesitation since the court wanted to hear him out.

Justice Khwaja explained why the court was interested in hearing the matter and said that without impinging upon the professional obligation of NAB it wanted to find out whether any attempt was made to interfere in the RPP investigations.

“We are all concerned, everybody even the government is concerned the manifestation of which has been reflected by appointing a high-level commission,” Justice Khwaja observed.

During the proceedings, Attorney General Irfan Qadir conveyed to the court a request of the interior ministry also suggesting not to hear the case till the commission completed the inquiry.

The court, however, asked him to provide by Friday a copy of the notification through which the one-man commission under Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal had been appointed.

The court also expressed its desire to appoint senior counsel Anwar Kamal as amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist it in the matter. The counsel, who was present in the court, said he was willing to assist but recalled that he had also assisted the court as amicus curiae in the rental power case.

The NAB prosecutor general suggested that it would be more appropriate if the court appoints someone else, instead of Anwar Kamal, but the court asked him to submit his reservations in writing.