Govt gives in to pressure; Qadir asked to leave office

Giving in to the knee-jerk reaction from media and other section of society, Law Ministry has issued directives to Irfan Qadir to immediately leave the Prosecutor Generals office and avoid media talk, Dunya News reported on Monday. Meanwhile, Presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar denied releasing any extension orders for Qadir. No notification has been issued form the Presidency regarding Irfan Qadir, Farhatullah Babar told mediamen. Supreme Courts ruling is clear that the appointment is illegal, the sources quoted law ministry official as saying. Earlier it is learnt that the government has issued a notification, allowing Irfan Qadir to continue work as NABs prosecutor general in a serious defiance of the Supreme Courts orders to remove him.Yes, I am continuing to hold this office and only the President could remove me, a defiant NAB prosecutor general Irfan Qadir said.The SC on Wednesday (Sep 1) ruled that the appointment of the NAB prosecutor general and deputy chairman, Javed Zia Qazi, was unlawful. A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq to ask the government to remove the NAB prosecutor general from his slot as early as possible. The court gave the verdict on a petition filed by Punjab Advocate General Harris Ahmad Khawaja who, during the course of proceedings of the Bank of Punjab scam case, challenged the appointments of Qadir and Zia Qazi. The latter was working as NABs acting chairman as outgoing chairman of the bureau Nawid Ahsan quit earlier this year. The prosecutor general shall hold office for a non-extendable period of three years. He shall not be removed from the office except on the grounds of removal of the judge of the Supreme Court, he justified while quoting clauses IV and V of section 8 of the NAB Ordinance 1999.Under Article 5 of the Constitution the SC can only interpret the constitution, not change the laws, he said and added he might send a written plea to the Supreme Judicial Council regarding the judgment because only the President can remove the Prosecutor General from his slot. Besides, Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq says: The fate of all 248 cases of National Reconciliation Ordinance reopened after the SC verdict to declare NRO null and void hangs in the balance. It is the duty of the NAB prosecutor general to assign different cases to prosecutors being tried in special courts of NAB, he explained while replying to a query as to who will assist the prosecutors dealing with hundreds of cases in the special courts. Govt should implement SC orders: SethiTalking to Dunya News, senior analyst Najam Sethi said that it seemed as if Irfan Qadir is saying that only the President could remove him from his slot. Irfan might be saying that I am not against the SC orders but I am waiting for governments directives in this regard, Sethi said while commenting on the issue. He said that Irfan Qadir had completed his tenure of three years as NAB prosecutor general therefore he cannot be reappointed in the same capacity under the law.Sethi opined that the government, on the other hand, is neither challenging the SC orders nor accepting it. He stated that recently the government extended the tenure of the additional judges of all the four high courts, which is against the constitution, adding that it would generate a salary issue in near future. Sethi warned that the time is not far when the apex court would use the Article 190 under which it could call upon the army to get the government implement its orders, then the responsibility would fall on Army to decide whether to obey the highest court or the defence ministry. He cautioned that such circumstances would lead to sever clash between judiciary and the incumbent government. Najam said that Oppositions nod is also required before appointing the PG and chairman of NAB and the decision on part of the government could deepen the rift between the two main institutes of the state. He called upon the government to accept the SC orders. Ranjha holds law and interior ministries responsible for crisis Talking to Dunya News, legal expert Khalid Ranjha said that after the SC orders the government should have issued some notice in this respect, and not doing so have had sparked ambiguity. He said the PG would continue to work until the presidential orders to seal it. He said that both law and interior ministries are responsible in this regard as NAB comes under them. Judiciary, govt confrontation likely: SM Zafar Legal expert SM Zafar, while talking to Dunya News, maintained that the notification could spark a confrontation between government and judiciary, saying that NAB could say that it needed time to remove Qadri and buy the time in this regard. But if the decision has come from government then a serious crisis could emerge between the two institutions, Zafar said. He said that if the government is employing delaying tactics, and urged the PM to issue Irfan Qadirs removal orders to avert crisis. Qadir ineligible to hold slot after SC orders: Justice TariqJustice (r) Tariq Mehmood, while talking to Dunya News said that the orders from the apex court rendered Irfan Qadir ineligible for holding the post. The governments decision could be challenged as its against the law, Tariq asserted. He averred that the law ministry might have sent the summary to the President.