ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court instructed the government on Friday to appoint chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as early as possible or be ready for consequences.

But the government informed the court that the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Khursheed Shah, whose consent was mandatory for selecting a person for the post, was in the UK and the matter would be decided after his expected return on Sept 17.

“Appoint the chairman, otherwise be ready to face consequences in the light of a decision of a five-member bench,” Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry told Attorney General Munir A. Malik while hearing the NAB chairman appointment case.

The chief justice said: “It is up to you whether to appoint the chairman or not, we will write in the order that court decisions are not being implemented.”

The court took serious notice of the functioning of the country’s premium anti-corruption which remains paralysed because the office of its chairman has been vacant for over three months and, as a result, many important references have been shelved.

“As the office of the chairman NAB is lying vacant so many scandals of corruption are not being attended and sole responsibility lies on the shoulders of the federal government to ensure functioning of such an important institution,” the chief justice said.

Seeking more time for the appointment of the NAB chairman, the attorney general said that this time the government required time not for itself but for the leader of opposition who was out of the country.

The chief justice rejected the reason given by the attorney general and said this time the leader of opposition was abroad and the next time the prime minister would not be in the country. “Leader of the opposition or the prime minister is not our problem. Why the government is not serious in discharging its duties,” he said. The attorney general said the government was conscious of the fact that NAB had been paralysed. “I recognise the problem and beseech for some time. This is true that the leader of opposition has asked for more time,” he said.

At this point Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed observed that the government wanted NAB to die its own death.

Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja said poor people were suffering because of non-recovery of plundered money in many scams being investigated by NAB. “I am not suffering but the poor. It is a major farce,” he said.

He said the government was taking no interest in the appointment and asked why had the leader of opposition flown to London.

The chief justice adjourned the case for indefinite period and said the court did not like the attitude of the government. “We will adjourn the case sine die, tell them (the government and the opposition) to enjoy,” he said.

It is learnt that the government and the opposition have reached an agreement on a name proposed by the former and planned to announce it on Mr Shah’s return.

The Supreme Court gave the first deadline to the government to appoint NAB chairman on May 28 and the second on Sept 5. Khursheed Shah told Dawn two days ago that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had proposed a new name for the post.

“The government has proposed a new name for the slot and we are hopeful that the government and the opposition will reach consensus by Sept 16 or 17,” he said.

But, Mr Shah who left for London on Thursday did not unveil the name proposed by the government.

“We cannot disclose the name because Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and I decided to make it public later,” he said.

The last NAB chief, retired Admiral Fasih Bokhari, was removed by the Supreme Court on May 28 after his appointment was declared illegal.

NAB has been facing multiple problems due to the absence of chairman as it cannot file any fresh reference and cannot go for appeals which should be filed within days of a court order after duly signed by the chairman and the prosecutor general.