ISLAMABAD: PML-N’s government and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman have still not been able to finalise the name of prosecutor general (PG) for the accountability watchdog.
It has been a month since the three-year tenure of former PG Waqas Qadeer Dar ended—the post has been vacant since then. New PG can be appointed by the government only after consultation with the NAB chairman.
A senior NAB official told a local media outlet that due to the absence of the PG, the filing of cases by NAB has been disrupted since approval of the PG is required for an appeal to be filed in a court of law. He further stated that an additional PG cannot work as an acting PG, in view of the high court’s order.
This appointment is pertinent as an accountability court is hearing references against the Sharif family presently, regarding the SC’s Panama Papers verdict. According to reports, the deadlock persists between the government and NAB because they both want a nominee of their choice.
Last week a list of five lawyers was sent by the NAB Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal to the federal government to choose from. The list comprised of Mudhasir Khalid Abbasi, Shah Khawar, Syed Asghar Haider, Fasihul Mulk, and Nasir Saeed Sheikh, however, the government was not interested in any of the suggested nominees, according to reports.
The Sharif family reportedly wants to appoint a lawyer of their own choice but this is unacceptable for the NAB chairman. Senior PML-N lawyers are now proposing the name of Sadique Awan as the new NAB PG.
Earlier, Justice Iqbal met Attorney General for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali, but nothing could be finalised about the names of prospective NAB PG nominees.