ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court on Thursday accepted for regular hearing a petition seeking dismissal of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Deputy Chairman Javed Zia Qazi and issued notices to the respondents – the federation, law minister, law secretary and establishment division secretary.
A three-member Supreme Court bench of Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa and Justice Amir Hani Muslim told by petitioner Habibul Wahabul Khairi advocate that NAB’s former chairman Justice (r) Syed Dedaar Hussain Shah had delegated all his powers to the deputy chairman just after taking charge as the NAB chairman, and no notification was issued to this effect, which was illegal.
Under the law, the powers of NAB chairman could not be delegated to the deputy chairman. He requested the court to examine academic qualification of Javed Zia Qazi to determine whether he was qualified to be appointed as the NAB deputy chairman.
The petitioner said before the passage of the 18th Amendment, the consultation with the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) for appointment of NAB chairman was mandatory, however, it was abolished in the 18th Amendment. He requested the court to direct government to amend the law pertaining to consultation with the CJP for appointment of the NAB chairman.
After preliminary hearing, the court accepted the petition for regular hearing, issued notices to the respondents and adjourned the proceedings for a week.
