Real, figurehead selectors of NAB chairman in prison

Islamabad : Four leading politicians including two former prime ministers and one ex-president of Pakistan, who had played the foremost role in appointing retired Justice Javed Iqbal as Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), are behind bars for having been arraigned by the same anti-graft agency on corruption charges.

On the surface, two consultees – the then Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and the then Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah – made the pick as required under Section 6 of the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), but in reality, they were just figureheads in the process.

The real selectors were Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari, who at the time did not hold any government position. But because of their grip over their Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) respectively, they had the final say in key decision making. Their concurrence without any hassle reflected the harmonious relations between the two leaders.

Javed Iqbal became the NAB Chairman in October 2017, some two and a half months after Nawaz Sharif was disqualified as the prime minister by the Supreme Court on July 28 that year. Khursheed Shah and Abbasi had held at least four meetings and reached consensus on Javed Iqbal only after they were asked by their party bosses to opt for him.

All these four selectors are facing or confronted with serious cases instituted by the NAB. The NAB detained three of them during investigations in charges against them. They obviously never thought of such fate and destiny while firming up their choice.

However, Nawaz Sharif courted arrest after flying back home from London in mid-July 2018 after he had been convicted by an accountability court in a reference filed by the NAB.

In his case, the NAB carried out no inquiry or investigations because it had been directed by the Supreme Court in its Panama judgment to submit three references against him in the court on the basis of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) findings. The former prime minister was the first one sent to jail after having been sentenced in a NAB case.

After sixty-seven days, he was bailed out, but was arrested on December 24, 2018 following his conviction in another NAB reference. Since then, he is in jail for this sentence.

Zardari was the second in line to be arrested in June this year during NAB investigation in the alleged money laundering through fake bank accounts. In his case too, the NAB had to rely on a report prepared by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the orders of the apex court.

A month later, the third person to be apprehended was Abbasi, who was also detained during NAB’s investigations in the LNG case. The inquiry has been going on for quite some time. Once, it had been closed by the Karachi chapter of the NAB, which was reopened.

The last one grabbed by the NAB is Khursheed Shah, who was netted during the current month in an assets beyond means case. He has been accused of Rs500 billion corruption. However, commenting on the astronomical figure, he has stated that the NAB should keep all this wealth with it and just 15pc of it to him, and that the amount was even more than Pakistan’s budget.

Whether the cases against these four prominent politicians have been instituted by the NAB on the basis of its own investigations or due to the directions of the Supreme Court, its prosecutors have the responsibility and onus of proving them in accountability courts first and then pursue them in superior courts.

It is stated that Khursheed Shah was not in favour of naming Javed Iqbal as the NAB chairman for his own reasons but had been left with no choice but to consent to his nomination after Zardari had asked him to do so.

Similarly, it is said that Nawaz Sharif had talked to Abbasi and recommended Javed Iqbal’s name by asking to consider him.

Thus, in name only, Abbasi and Khursheed Shah had held the “consultations” and arrived at the consensus to nominate Javed Iqbal, but as a matter of fact they had just implemented the orders of Nawaz Sharif and Zardari.

While being in NAB custody, Abbasi tendered an apology to the nation during his appearance before the accountability court for having recommended Javed Iqbal as NAB chairman. He said Javed Iqbal’s name had come from the PPP to which he had agreed.

Under Section 6 of the NAO, there will be a NAB chairman to be appointed by the President in consultation with the leader of the House [prime minister] and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly for a non-extendable period of four years on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the President and will not be removed except on the grounds of removal of Supreme Court judge.

A person will not be appointed as the NAB chairman unless he is a retired Chief Justice or a Supreme Court judge or a high court chief justice, or is a retired officer of the armed forces equivalent to the rank of a Lieutenant General; or is a retired federal government officer in basic pay scale 22 or equivalent.