The National Accountability Bureau now has a new chief, Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, agreed upon by the government and the opposition. Justice Iqbal’s was among the three names submitted by opposition leader Khursheed Shah. The PTI had provided three names of its own and, as was expected, it is now crying foul and complaining it was not consulted. Khursheed Shah has stated that repeated efforts to establish contacts with the PTI leadership failed and the same was true of the MQM. The MQM has subsequently stated it has no problem with the appointment. Justice Javed Iqbal has a distinguished history. He was among the judges who refused to sign the Provisional Constitutional Order of 2007 put before the judiciary by Gen Pervez Musharraf, and was as a consequence removed as judge. He later headed the commission set up to look into the US raid in Abbottabad in 2011 which resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. The report finalised by Justice Iqbal in 2013 was never made public, although he has said it should be. Justice Iqbal has also headed a national commission to look into cases of people who have disappeared. With this background Justice Javed Iqbal should be well equipped to take over NAB and will be aware of the challenges his new job will present.
The initial focus of Justice Iqbal’s tenure may be on the Sharif family cases currently being heard in the accountability courts, with the arrest of Captain Muhammad Safdar coinciding with his appointment. The cases have become hugely controversial and a commitment to transparency is always welcome. NAB is in unchartered territory now that the Supreme Court has involved itself in overseeing the cases against the Sharifs. However, there are the many other institutional challenges the anti-graft body faces. It has been regularly accused of being a tool targeting the vulnerable and ignoring the powerful. In dealing with them the new accountability chief will be to steer his organisation clear of controversies around issues of politicisation, victimisation, and corruption. The Supreme Court itself held multiple hearings on the misuse of voluntary return and plea bargains to allow influential persons to return only a fraction of the money they had plundered. Most of the deals NAB concluded were kept secret. Under Justice Iqbal, NAB must show greater commitment to transparency than his predecessors. That perhaps is his greatest challenge.