ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Wednesday appointed former Lahore High Court (LHC) judge Syed Asghar Haider as the new National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor general.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court disposed of the case pertaining to the appointment of NAB’s prosecutor general after the standoff between the anti-graft watchdog and federal government finally came to an end on Tuesday with the decision of appointing Syed Asghar Haider as the new prosecutor general.
During the hearing, Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf told the three-member bench that the prime minister has recommended appointment of Syed Asghar Haider for the slot out of a panel of eight names and notification would be issued soon.
The top court had taken notice of the delay in the appointment. The top court had sought a concise statement from the law secretary regarding the delay in the appointment of the recently filled post.
The post was vacant since November of last year when the three-year tenure of former PG Waqas Qadeer Dar ended. Under the law, the federal government must make the appointment after consulting the NAB chairman. NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal sent a list of five lawyers to the federal government to choose from. The chairman proposed Mudhasir Khalid Abbasi, Shah Khawar, Syed Asghar Haider, Fasihul Mulk, and Nasir Saeed Sheikh.
However, the president rejected all names owing to several reasons. Later, the president sent three names to the NAB chairman to select from. The president recommended Ramzan Chaudhry, Najeeb Faisal and Waqar Hassan Mir, but the chairman rejected his nominees.
Sources revealed that Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali played a pivotal role to end the deadlock between the federal government and NAB over the issue of appointing a prosecutor general.
Asghar’s name was recommended by the NAB chief. He was also among those LHC judges who had taken oath under November 3, 2007, PCO.
