Nothing illegal in Fasih’s nomination as NAB chief

Reiterating the government’s commitment to appoint Admiral (r) Fasih Bukhari chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday thanked Opposition Leader Nisar Ali Khan “for taking part in the consultative process, as mandated by the law” and expressed hope that the nominee “would serve the institution in the best manner”.
President’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said in a statement that the president had made it clear in a letter sent to the opposition leader that the name of Fasih Bokhari had been proposed in accordance with the provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, the “existing law at the point of time” and that the leader of the House had also concurred to the proposal. The president also pointed out that the opposition leader had offered no comments “on the profile and integrity of the nominee, which in fact is the material aspect of the consultation”.
Babar said the president referred to clause (Ba) of Section 6 of the NAB Ordinance and said the existing provisions of law had been strictly followed and there was no deviation from the existing legislation in any manner. He said that Section 6 clause (Ba) reads as under: “A person shall not be appointed as Chairman NAB unless he:-
(i) is a retired chief justice or judge or the Supreme Court, or a chief justice of a High Court; or
(ii) is a retired officer of the armed forces of Pakistan equivalent to the rank of a Lieutenant General; or
(iii) is a retired federal government officer in BPS-22 or equivalent”. The president said the proposed nominee fell under sub-clause (ii) of clause (ba) of Section 6 of the aforesaid ordinance. Babar said the president rejected the suggestion.
Instead, the president informed the opposition leader that “meaningful consultation can be done even on a single person and for that purpose you are taken on board quite candidly”, Babar said. “I have consulted the leader of the House in the National Assembly on the subject, who has concurred to the proposal,” the president said. Referring to the implementation of superior court’s verdict mentioned in the letter of opposition leader, the president said a bill was already pending in parliament.
“In order to implement the judgments of the superior courts referred to in your letter, a bill is proposed by the federal government and is pending in parliament wherein process of consideration of the bill by members of parliament is taking place,” the president’s letter said. The president also referred to various judgments of the superior courts over the issue and said that the sense of various judgments of the superior courts was that the consultation shall be meaningful and for this purpose there was no necessity of sending a panel of nominees.
“In the light of the afore-going lego-factual position, it is expected that the nominee would serve the institution in the best manner. I take this opportunity to thank you for taking part in the consultative process, as mandated by law,” the president concluded.