ISLAMABAD,Oct 09 (TNS): President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain has appointed Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), says a notification released by the Ministry of Law and Justice.
It was early reported that the government and opposition have reached a consensus to appoint Justice (r) Javed Iqbal as chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah,while addressing a press conference in Sukkur on Sunday had revealed that he discussed the names proposed by other opposition parties for the appointment of NAB chairman with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi but the consensus was reached on the name of Javed Iqbal.”
According to the notification issued by Ministry of Law and Justice, Justice (r) Javed Iqbal has been appointed NAB chief for a non-extendable period of four years from the date he assumes the charge of the office.
“In exercise of the powers conferred upon Section 6(b) of National Accountability Ordinance 1999, the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to appoint Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, a retired judge of the Supreme Court as Chairman, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after consultation with the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly for a non-extendable period of four years from the date he assumes the charge of the office,” states the notification.
Justice (r) Iqbal headed the Abbottabad Enquiry Commission, made to probe a raid by US Special Forces in the city.
The Abbottabad Enquiry Commission investigated and reported the circumstances surrounding the May 2011 raid by US Special Forces at a compound in Abbottabad. The commission had interviewed over 300 witnesses and gave 200 recommendations in a 700-page report to the prime minister. The report was immediately classified, but a version was leaked by an international news network.
On Friday, Khursheed Shah called on Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to discuss the proposed names for the appointment of the NAB chairman.
The government itself had proposed three names that of Intelligence Bureau Director General Aftab Sultan and retired justices Rehman Hussain Jafri and Ijaz Chaudhry.
The opposition parties had submitted different names from retired judges, ex election commission officials to police heads for the chairmanship of NAB.
The PTI had proposed former inspector general of police Shoaib Suddle, former judge of the Supreme Court Falak Sher and former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary Arbab Shahzad.
The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) had claimed that it had given three names to the opposition leader for NAB chairman’s office and not one as reportedly claimed by Khursheed Shah.
MQM’s Rabita Committee member Ameenul Haq had said that besides Justice Mahmood Rizvi, the party had proposed the names of retired Justice Muhammad Ghaus and former ECP secretary Kanwar Dilshad for the office.
The only nominee of Jamaat-e-Islami for the post was former ECP secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan.
The appointment of NAB chairman is made at a time when a NAB court is hearing corruption references against members of the Sharif family in line with the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.
Who is Justice(r) Javed Iqabal?
Raised in Quetta Javed Iqbal was born on 1 August 1936. After graduation he moved to Lahore where he obtained LLB in 1968, and MA degree in Political science in 1970 from the Punjab University. He then went to Australia where he got LLM degree in International law from University of Western Australia in 1971. On return he served as Public prosecutor, government pleader, Deputy Secretary and Secretary Law till 1982 and later he resigned from the provincial government’s legal branch after accepting the professorship in law at the Balochistan University and became honorary lecturer at the Balochistan University.
In 1982, he was appointed as a session judge at the district court. In 1985, Iqbal attended the International Islamic University (IIU) in Islamabad where he gained master’s degree in Islamic law with the thesis on jurisprudence in Islamic Faqīh and Sharia laws, in 1987. During the same period, he attended an advanced course National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA). In 1988, he was also appointed as the Judicial Member, Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal, but the Government of Balochistan did not relieve him. In 1990, he became Registrar of the Balochistan High Court which he retained until 1993.
In 1993, Justice Iqbal was elevated as additional judge at the Balochistan High Court and was confirmed as “justice” by the Governor of Balochistan Province in 1995. In 1999, he was one of the judges in the country who retook their oaths under the Provisional Constitutional Order(PCO), following the aftermath of the military coup d’état staged by Chairman joint chiefs General Pervez Musharraf. On immediate effect, he was appointed as the Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court on 4 February 2000, however, this promotion was short-lived as he was elevated as a “Senior Justice” of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 28 April 2000.
When the presidential reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was filed on 9 March 2007, Iqbal served as acting Chief Justice of Pakistan from 9 March 2007 till 23 March 2007.
Iqbal refused to take oath on Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) on 3 November 2007. As the result he was removed from the Supreme Court along with eleven other judges.
Later he was appointed to the position of chairman of the Press Council of Pakistan (PCP) for three years on 11 November 2007. He announced on 12 April 2008 that he had resigned from that position. On 17 March 2009 as the result of the lawyer and civil society movement for restoration of judiciary, Justice Iqbal was restored to the position of 2 November 2007 on the bench of Supreme Court.
On 13 April 2005, a bench headed by, then Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, with other members of bench being Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Javed Iqbal, Abdul Hameed Dogar and Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, unanimously dismissed all petitions challenging the 17th Constitutional Amendment and the dual office of General Pervez Musharraf as the President as well as the Chief of Army Staff. However, a decision in a case relating to the retirement age of the superior court judges was withheld.
On 28 September 2007, Javed Iqbal along with Abdul Hameed Dogar, M. Javed Buttar, Mohammad Nawaz Abbasi, Faqir Muhammad Khokhar, and Falak Sher formed a majority opinion in holding that petition challenging General Pervez Musharraf candidature for the second term as the president as non-maintainable. Head of the bench Rana Bhagwandas, with two other members Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan and Mian Shakirullah Jan dissented.
On 3 November 2007, Iqbal was the member of seven-panel bench headed by Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry which unanimously declared the 2007 Pakistani state of emergency as illegal and passed an order restraining all judges of Supreme Court and High Courts from taking oath under Provisional Constitutional Order. The other members of the bench were Rana Bhagwandas, Mian Shakirullah Jan, Nasir-ul-Mulk, Raja Muhammad Fayyaz Ahmad, and Ghulam Rabbani.
