ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Saturday challenging the appointment of Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau.

Moved by Advocate Mohammad Akram Sheikh on behalf of Chaudhry Nisar, the petition said: “It is respectfully prayed that the appointment of Admiral (retd) Fasih Bokhari as chairman NAB may kindly be declared void ab initio (illegal from the beginning) not having been made by the President in consultation with the Leader of the House (prime minister) and Leader of the Opposition nor the Chief Justice of Pakistan.”

It alleged that the appointment of Mr Bokhari was tainted with personal motivation on part of President Asif Ali Zardari.

The petitioner moved a separate application seeking to restrain Mr Bokhari from performing the functions of NAB chairman.

President Zardari appointed Admiral Bokhari NAB chairman on Oct 16.

Earlier, Chaudhry Nisar had challenged the appointment of Justice (retd) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah as NAB chairman on similar grounds. On March 10, the Supreme Court declared Mr Shah's appointment illegal and directed the government to immediately fill the vacant post.

In his latest petition, the opposition leader requested the court to order Admiral (retd) Bokhari to show under what authority he was holding the office of NAB chairman.

“To secure the fundamental rights of life, liberty, fair trial, due process of law and access to justice of citizens of Pakistan, Admiral (retd) Bokhari should also be directed to relinquish his office and the said office be declared vacant.”

In his Oct 8 letter, Chaudhry Nisar had suggested to the president to nominate a 'panel' of possible candidates for the post through mutual discussions while the final nomination be done through “meaningful, purposive and consensus-oriented consultation”. But neither the prime minister nor the president made any attempt to interact with the petitioner to reach some consensus, the petition said.

President Zardari, the petition insists, is not qualified to exercise power or perform function to appoint NAB chairman when he himself is an accused in more than a dozen cases of alleged corruption in and outside Pakistan. Thus there is an obvious conflict of interest in such appointments.

President Zardari is also holding the office of co-chairman of the PPP, one of the major political parties, the petition pleaded.

In the appointment of NAB chairman, the petition stressed, it is imperative to consult the chief justice to ensure the neutrality and independence of the National Accountability Bureau.