ISLAMABAD: Former Chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari on Friday filed a fresh review petition in the Supreme Court against its May 28 ruling, declaring his appointment as void.
Earlier, the SC Registrar office had returned with objections chairman NAB Fasih Bokhari review petition against court’s verdict on nullification of his appointment.
However, Bokhari after addressing and removing the objections filed the petition again requesting to halt the implementation of the earlier decision until the court issues judgment on his review petition.
The apex court, on May 28, ruled the appointment of Fasih Bokhari to the position of chairman of the NAB as null and void.
The ruling was issued by a five-judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jilani. The court ruled that Bokhari’s appointment to the post was unconstitutional and unlawful, adding that it was in violation with Section 6 of the NAB Ordinance.
The court was ruling on a petition challenging the appointment and filed in 2011 by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member and current Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
The petition filed in October 2011 had stated: “It is respectfully prayed that the appointment of Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari as chairman NAB may kindly be declared void ab initio (illegal from the beginning) not having been made by the President in consultation with the Leader of the House (prime minister) and Leader of the Opposition nor the Chief Justice of Pakistan.”
It was alleged that Bokhari’s appointment was tainted with personal motivation on part of President Asif Ali Zardari.
President Zardari had appointed Admiral Bokhari as NAB chairman on October 16, 2011.
The petition had insisted that President Zardari was not qualified to exercise power or perform function to appoint NAB chairman when he himself was an accused in more than a dozen cases of alleged corruption.
It had moreover stressed that in the appointment of NAB chairman, it was imperative to consult the chief justice to ensure the neutrality and independence of the National Accountability Bureau.
