On Thursday, the federal cabinet approved the appointment of Aftab Sultan as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, the former chairman of the NAB, relinquished his position on June 2 when the ordinance through which he was given an extension until the appointment of a new chairman expired.
Iqbal’s tenure as the bureau’s chairman – which lasted four years and eight months – was one of the most controversial in its history.
According to the constitution, the term of the chairman of the NAB is four years. However, the PTI promulgated the NAB amendment ordinance and extended Iqbal’s term until the appointment of a new chairman.
No consultations were initiated by PTI
In spite of this, the PTI government did not initiate the process of consulting with the opposition leader to be able to appoint a new chairman for the party.
As a result of the National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill 2021, passed by a joint sitting of Parliament, the NAB chairman cannot be reappointed after completing his/her four-year term.
Additionally, the NAB chairman and the bureau’s prosecutor-general will have their terms reduced from four to three years under the bill. Federal government will be responsible for appointing the deputy chairman.
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In addition to National Accountability (Second Amendment) Bill 2021, NAB chairman cannot be appointed for a second tenure.
NAB chairman and the bureau’s prosecutor-general will have their terms reduced from four to three years under the bill. A deputy chairman will be appointed by the federal government, who will have the power to do so.
Carrier Of Aftab Sultan
In 2013, he was appointed chief of the IB and served until April 3, 2018 after serving since then. During Musharraf’s regime, Sultan was the police officer who refused to assist Musharraf in the 2002 referendum. As a result, Sultan was demoted to a special duty officer.
Additionally, Sultan was also selected by former PM Yousuf Raza Gilani, making him only officer to serve with two governments. Aside from Sharif and Gilani, Sultan also served under Raja Pervez Ashraf and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
Sultan graduated from University of The Punjab with a law degree. He then completed an LLM at Cambridge and an MSc in jurisprudence/legal studies at Edinburgh.