ISLAMABAD - The National Accountability Bureau on Tuesday appointed former Justice Shah Khawar as special prosecutor of the bureau without floating an advertisement before filling the vacant position.
Anti-corruption watchdog officials claimed that it appointed Khawar in a hurry owing to a delay in the appointment of the Prosecutor General Accountability (PGA).
Interestingly, the NAB has moved a five-member summary to the Law Division to appoint a person on the vacant slot of the PGA and the name of Khawar is also included in the summary. The federal government has not yet taken a decision on the appointment of the new PGA.
Previously, Khawar has served as deputy attorney general and assistant advocate general.
The NAB claimed in a statement that “the bureau is facing difficulties in pursuing some important cases owing to the vacant post of the PGA. The summery has been sent and we are waiting for approval for the last two weeks ago. Hearing of important cases is still continuing in different courts and the absence of the prosecutor general can have a negative impact on the under trial cases. Shah Khawar would represent the NAB in the Hudaibiya Paper Mills case etc.”
Sources said that Khawar has good links with top NAB officials and his appointment has been made without any advertisement for the first time in the last five years.
After the retirement of PGA Waqas Qadeer Dar on November 23, the NAB had sent a summary comprising the names of Shah Khawar, Muddassar Abasi, Saeed Ahmed Sheikh, Justice Fasihul Mulk and Syed Asghar Haider to the Law Division and it had moved the file to the presidency in this regard.
The federal government has raised reservations on the names of Saeed Ahmed Sheikh and Justice Fasihul Mulk, who have served as judges of high courts due to their overage.
