Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Finally the standoff between the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the federal government came to an end on Tuesday with the decision of appointing Syed Ali Asghar the prosecutor general of the anti-graft watchdog.

A senior official in the Law Ministry confirmed that the government had decided to appoint former Lahore High Court (LHC) judge Syed Ali Asghar the NAB prosecutor general.

The notification regarding his appointment will be issued soon, he said.

The Supreme Court had also taken a notice over the delay in the appointment. The court will resume hearing on January 24.The top court sought a concise statement from law secretary regarding the delay in the appointment of the prosecutor general.

The post was vacant since November, 2017, 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 had 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. The president recommended Ramzan Chaudhry, Najeeb Faisal and Waqar Hassan Mir but the chairman rejected his nominees.

Sources revealed that Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf Ali played a pivotal role to end the deadlock between federal government and the NAB.

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.

Published in Daily Times, January 24^th 2018.