Justice retd Maqbool Baqar tops choice for NAB chairman: sources

ISLAMABAD: Former judge of the Supreme Court Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar has emerged as a favourite contender for the slot of chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) following the government’s consultation with its allies, ARY NEWS reported.

According to sources privy to the background discussions, all coalition parties have agreed upon the name of Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar.

“The name of Maqbool Baqar came into discussion during a meeting between Shehbaz Sharif and Asif Zardari and the two agreed over his name,” they said and added that the government is confident that even Opposition Leader Raja Riaz would have no objection over his name.

Maqbool Baqar retired from the apex court in April this year and had previously served as a judge in the Sindh High Court. The sources further shared that a consensus on the name of Fawad Hassan Fawad could not be developed between the coalition partners.

Yesterday it was reported that the federal government has planned to appoint a former bureaucrat as chairman National Accountability Bureau (NAB) rather than appointing a judge for the slot.

Sources privy to the discussions on the matter were quoted as saying that a meeting took place between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Opposition Leader Raja Riaz to consult over the matter.

“The two mulled over the names for the chairman NAB and initially discussed three names for the slot,” they said and added that the names discussed included former bureaucrat Fawad Hassan Fawad, ex-chairman NAB Qamar uz Zaman and former DG FIA Bashir Memon.

While confirming discussions on the names for chairman NAB, Raja Riaz said that they would finalize a name for the slot by June 02. “We have not yet finalized the names, however, all of them are respected people,” he said following meeting with PM Shehbaz Sharif.