ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court Friday declared the appointment of Qamar Zaman Chaudhry as Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as legal.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk disposed of a petition, filed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan against appointment of Chaudhry as chairman NAB.
During the course of proceeding, Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, counsel for Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, apprised that the petition against appointment of Major (retd) Chaudhry Qamar Zaman as chairman of the anti-graft body, was inadmissible.
The Supreme Court had allowed the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to become party in the case last month.
After getting a clean chit from the bureau on an inquiry into the Rs6 billion National Insurance Company (NICL) scam case for his alleged involvement, Qamar Zaman Chaudhry was reinstated as the chairman of Pakistan’s top anti-corruption watchdog in December last year.
Aitzaz Ahsan said that Imran Khan filed the petition in personal capacity and not as a political leader and Qamar Zaman was appointed with the consent of the government and the opposition.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khrusheed Ahmed Shah had agreed to the name of Zaman as the chairman of NAB, Ahsan added.
He said that the President of Pakistan was bound to act on the advice of the Prime Minister after the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
Advocate Khawaja Haris, amicus curiae, informed the court that consultation between the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition is mandatory for the appointment of chairman NAB under NAB's laws.
The court asked about the selection process of leader of the opposition in the lower house of Parliament, on which Aitzaz Ahsan replied that leader of the opposition was the one who enjoyed support of maximum opposition members in the house.
The court after hearing arguments termed the appointment of Chairman NAB legal, and disposed of the petition.
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