ISLAMABAD;; Instead taking the Law Division’s objections seriously, the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government has decided to go ahead with its plan to grant another four- year term as National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman to Justice (R) Javed Iqbal.
Justice (R) Javed Iqbal was appointed as a NAB chairman on October 8, 2017 during Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) rule. His term of 4- year would complete next month.
As per law , any incumbent NAB chairman can not be given extension on completion of full term in office . But the PTI government intends to find out some means to grant another term of 4- -year as NAB chairman to Justice (R) Javed Iqbal.
The Law Division had raised legal issues on the summary prepared for extending services of incumbent chairman and observed that as per law NAB chairman can not get extension .
Sources said the government has over ruled the Law Division’s objections and decided to go for grant of another term of 4- year to Justice (R) Javed Iqbal.
Sources confided to this scribe that instead extension , the government is going to give a fresh appointment to incumbent chairman.
Probably, the idea of re-appointment of the incumbent chairman has been picked up by the government legal team to avoid any litigation if the incumbent chairman gets the job of NAB chairman again.
The arguement of the government legal wizards may work adversely as independent legal experts quote the NAB Act, which opposes extension to any incumbent chairman.
A senior lawyer of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) was when approached for his opinion on the issue while requesting anonymity said ” As per law an incumbent NAB chairman can neither be reappointed nor granted extension: