Daily Times

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial Friday advised the Attorney-General of Pakistan (AGP) Ashtar Ausaf to carefully consider the appointment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.

The Supreme Court was hearing a suo motu notice case on the apprehension of persons in authority undermining the criminal justice system.

During the hearing, on the issue of the appointment of the NAB chairman, the CJP remarked that one should not be influenced by the opinion of anyone outside the system over the appointment of the NAB chairman. The CJP advised the AGP that the NAB chairman should be a competent and trustworthy person, and therefore, his appointment should be made with careful consideration.

CJP Bandial stated that the NAB should not tolerate pressure to bring a case without merit. “If NAB is under pressure, write to us. That does not imply that you must pick and drop any case you want,” he said.

The CJP said there was a high-profile drug case which made headlines and when the investigating officer was asked about it, he had commented that it was a bogus case.

The Supreme Court observed that it would examine changes being made to the National Accountability Ordinance 1999 — the NAB law — by the federal government as it could not overlook the efforts to “minimise the role” of the accountability watchdog. The judge also asked the NAB lawyer to pursue corruption cases that could lead to a conviction and drop those where evidence was lacking. Justice Ijazul Ahsan told the accountability watchdog to share a complete record of high-profile cases with the top court.