The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that there is a binding on the president under the constitution to consult prime minister before appointing the chairman of NAB.
A four-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Javed Iqbal comprising Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Justice Asif Saeed Khosa was hearing different petitions against appointment of incumbent chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah.
After the appointment of chairman NAB, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had made a statement on the floor of the house that he was not consulted before appointing chairman NAB. However, later talking to media he said his advice not necessary regarding the appointment of chairman NAB.
During the hearings, counsel for federation, Abdul Hafeez Peerzada submitted before the court that appointment of chairman NAB was made according to prime minister's advise. He said that after the 18th amendment, president was bound to act under the PM advice.
Akram Sheikh, the counsel for PML-N leader, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who is also one of the petitioners, told the court that appointment of chairman NAB was made in violation of apex court's several judgements. He stated that the government had not properly consulted his client regarding the appointment of chairman NAB. Sheikh said that the government had referred two names but his client rejected these names and asked the government to consider others name for that post, adding that PM also telephoned to Nisar regarding the matter as well.
Justice Asif Khosa asked the counsel that whether the president had consulted the petitioner or not. Akram Sheikh replied that the president did not consult him. Justice Khosa said that the president was bound to act accordance with PM advice while appointing such high officials.
Abdul Hafeez Peerzada said that principal secretary to PM had sent the summary to law ministry regarding new appointment of chairman NAB. "Justice Deedar Hussain Shah was appointed under that PM's summary," he added. Justice Khosa observed the government in its reply had also admitted that it was not the discretion of president to appoint chairman NAB. He said that there were two issues before the court whether the president had appointed chairman NAB as per law, second, the PM statement needs to examined, in which he had stated that appointment of chairman NAB was made under the discretion of president. Justice Javed Iqbal asked about the record of PM's summary regarding the appointment of chairman NAB.
Khalid Ranjha, counsel for chairman NAB told the court that he had attached all the records including the summary. After going through the summary, the court observed that it was interesting to see that the PM did not give advice regarding the matter. The counsel for federation requested the court to give some time for consulting PM regarding the matter and to check record to further confirm it. The case adjourned the hearing till Wednesday.