SC raises questions on appointment of senior NAB official

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought details of the appointment of a director general of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), questioning how he was appointed despite not apparently having the qualifications for the job.

A two-member bench of the apex court comprising Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Qazi Faez Isa were hearing the bail plea of an accused who had disguised himself as a NAB officer when the matter arose.

During the hearing today, Justice Isa asked the NAB prosecutor how the accused, Mohammad Nadeem, a "semi-literate person from Bahawalpur", could call up senior public and private officials pretending to be a Bureau officer. 

“The accused only owns a buffalo; how did he get the contact numbers of high ranking NAB officials,” Justice Isa asked.

The judge then turned to DG NAB Irfan Mangi and asked him what his education and salary were. To this, Mangi told the court he is an engineer and earns Rs420,000.

When asked if he had any experience in criminal cases, Mangi said, "I have no experience in criminal cases."

The judge, while expressing anger over the appointments in NAB, asked, “How can am engineer sit at such an important position in the Bureau?”

Mangi, a former DG NAB Balochistan, was appointed as DG NAB Rawalpindi in 2018. Mangi, who replaced Nasir Iqbal, was also part of the joint investigation team ordered by Supreme Court to probe former premier Nawaz Sharif’s assets in the Panama Papers case.

“Under which NAB law were the appointments made,” Justice Isa remarked, adding, “How did NAB chairman bypass the Constitution and law and make appointments. Chairman NAB [Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal] is not a judge anymore, we can call him to court and question him.”

The judge continued, “On whose recommendation was Irfan Mangi appointed? NAB is run on public money and they are all workers for the people.”

Justice Isa added that everyone sitting on an important position was running his own agenda. “We are not conducting a media trial of NAB. We have given many opportunities [to NAB] but the Bureau’s illegal activities are still going on. Because of NAB, innocent people are in jail due to the incompetence of its officers.”

NAB’s name is enough to scare people, Justice Isa noted.

Responding to the judge, the NAB prosecutor said that the Bureau was doing its work according to the law. To this, Justice Isa remarked that it seemed the court would have to conduct law classes for NAB.

“No rules and regulations have been made since 1999,” he said.

Raising questions over DG NAB’s appointment, the top court issued a notice to the attorney general of Pakistan and sought details regarding the appointments of all NAB DGs.

The court then adjourned the hearing of the case indefinitely.