The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday set up a larger bank to decide a petition against the appointment of Judge Javed Iqbal as president of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), as well as all actions taken by the office under his presidency.
The President of the LHC, Sardar Mohammad Shamim Khan, constituted the bank, consisting of Judge Qasim Khan, Judge Malik Shahzad and Judge Asjad Javed Gharal.
The lawyer A.K. Dogar had submitted the petition in March of this year, seeking an order from the superior court to annul the appointment of the president of the NAB and a revocation of all actions taken by the responsibility control body during his term. The petitioner had claimed that the president had been appointed in violation of the laws and the Constitution.
According to the petitioner, all actions taken by the office must also be considered a violation of the law and, therefore, must be declared null and void.
The petitioner also asked the court to revoke the sentence of former jailed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as he was imprisoned under NAB laws.
Judge Qasim Khan, after hearing the arguments, had rejected the request for the release of Nawaz Sharif on the grounds that applications for bail from the former Prime Minister are already pending before the High Court of Islamabad (IHC).
Judge Khan, however, had referred the matter of the appointment of the president of the NAB to the president of the Supreme Court of the LHC with a recommendation to establish a larger bank to hear the case.
Meanwhile, the IHC agreed to hear Nawaz Sharif's bail request and ordered the accountability control body to submit its response to the petition within two weeks.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1510092/lhc-constitutes-bench-to-decide-fate-of-nab-chairman