The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is set to have three new faces at the helm of affairs next week at its headquarters, Rawalpindi and Lahore offices, with the retirement of Deputy Chairman Javaid Zia Qazi scheduled for April 30, and the end of the tenure of Justice (r) Rana Zahid Mehmood as the director general (DG) of NAB Rawalpindi and acting DG of NAB Lahore, whose one-year contract expired on Thursday. A source told Pakistan Today that despite the fact that both officials had to leave next week, Qazi and Mahmood were reluctant to relinquish charge and were making last ditch efforts to retain their positions, and the former had been assured by the higher-ups of an extension.
But the dilemma Qazi is facing is that the Supreme Court has told the government that an official can only be given extension at least six months prior to his or her retirement. In Qazi’s case, he has only a week of service left. Even with Justice (r) Deedar Shah in place as NAB as chairman, the powerful Qazi was dubbed “de facto chairman” to run the body according to the wishes of the rulers, said the source, adding that Qazi had been instrumental in getting around 60 cases of corruption closed by NAB, which were mostly against politicians from Sindh. Qazi, the source said, was likely to be given a post-retirement extension.
On the other hand, the source said, despite the expiry of his contract on Thursday, Mehmood was still exercising his powers illegally. The source said that Mehmood still held his dual charge on the pretext that he would hand over charge of both offices to the new appointees, and since no new appointments had been made so far, he would continue until they were. According to NAB rules, an officer, upon expiry of their contract, had to handover charge to their subordinate, as was the case with NAB Rawalpindi: when Lahore DG Major (r) Shamsher was removed in July 2010, his charge was handed over to Mehmood, the Rawalpindi DG, said the source.
“But Rana Zahid Mehmood is reluctant to do so despite the fact that he can hand over charge of theRawalpindi office to the senior-most officer, Major (r) Shehzad Salim,” the source added. Mehmood’s appointment was also challenged in the Lahore High Court through a constitutional petition, terming it a violation of the Supreme Court’s judgement and the constitution. Meanwhile, NAB’s Lahore and Rawalpindi offices were moved to new buildings on Friday. The Lahore office has been shifted from Chamba House to a new building at Thokar Niazbeg, while the Rawalpindi office was shifted from Girls Hostel Rawalpindi to the Social Welfare Building in Islamabad.
