ISLAMABAD, March 18: The ministry of law withdrew on Monday a controversial notification about formation of an inquiry commission for protecting the National Accountability Bureau from ‘interference’ by ‘outside institutions’.

“The notification was issued by mistake and the law ministry has ordered its immediate withdrawal,” a spokesman for the ministry said.

The notification was believed to be against superior courts because the NAB chief had mentioned ‘interference’ of courts in affairs of the bureau in its letter sent to President Asif Ali Zardari on Jan 27. The president had referred the letter to the law ministry on Jan 30 and Law Minister Farooq Naek said the letter had been sent to the law ministry for seeking legal opinion.

But, the ministry in the notification issued on March 16 formed a commission reportedly to investigate allegations levelled by NAB chief that the Supreme Court was not allowing the bureau to function freely.

According to a notification issued by the joint secretary of the law ministry, Sohail Qadir Siddiqui, a two-member commission comprising former Supreme Court judges Mukhtar Junejo and Nawaz Abbasi, was formed to look into the matter and submit a report in a few weeks.

In a letter dated Jan 27 and dispatched from the chairman’s home address in Chak Shahzad Farms, Park Road, Admiral (retd) Bokhari directly accused members of the superior judiciary of trying to influence the outcome of the coming general election.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary, who had taken notice of the NAB chairman’s letter, said during a hearing on Feb 19 that the NAB chairman had maligned the Supreme Court by writing the letter to President Zardari.

The chief justice had also asked how media got the copy of a letter and how a secret document could be leaked from the personal computer of the NAB chairman.

The chief justice said that the Supreme Court supported free, fair, impartial and timely elections and it was not an obstacle to polls.