Section 6: National Accountability Bureau

6. National Accountability Bureau. — (a) There shall be constituted a National Accountability Bureau for the whole of Pakistan. 2[(b) Chairman, National Accountability Bureau: — (i) There shall be a Chairman, National Accountability Bureau to be appointed by the Federal Government after consultation between the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly: Provided that the consultation between Leader of the House and Leader of the Opposition shall be initiated two months prior to the expiry of the term of outgoing Chairman and shall be concluded within the period of forty five days; (ii) If there is no consensus on the name of the Chairman, the names proposed by the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition shall be forwarded by the Chairman of the Senate and Speaker of the National Assembly, as the case may be, to the Parliamentary Committee appointed under clause (iii), which may confirm any one name for appointment as Chairman: Provided that the Leader of the House and Leader of the opposition shall propose two names each for consideration of the Parliamentary Committee; (iii) The Parliamentary Committee under clause (ii) shall be constituted by the Speaker, National Assembly, comprising fifty percent members from the treasury benches and fifty percent from the opposition benches, based on their strength in Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), to be nominated by the respective Parliamentary Leaders: Provided that the Parliamentary Committee shall recommend the name of the Chairman not later than thirty days; (iv) The total strength of the Parliamentary Committee shall be twelve members out of which one third shall be from the Senate. If the National Assembly stands dissolved at the material time, all the members of the Committee shall be from the Senate; (v) The Chairman shall, on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Federal Government, hold office for a 6[term of three years which may be extended once for a further period of three years by the Federal Government] and shall not be removed from office except on the grounds and in the manner as provided in Article 209 of the Constitution: 5[Provided that as and when the office of the Chairman NAB falls vacant or when the Chairman NAB is absent or unable to perform the functions of his office, due to any reason whatsoever, the Deputy Chairman NAB shall act as Chairman NAB and in absence of Deputy Chairman NAB, the Federal Government shall appoint an acting Chairman NAB from amongst the senior officers of the NAB; and] (vi) The Chairman may, by writing under his hand, addressed to the Federal Government, resign from his office.] 2[(ba) A person shall not be appointed as Chairman NAB unless he— (i) is a retired Chief Justice or a Judge of the Supreme Court or a Chief Justice of a High Court; or (ii) is a retired officer of the Armed Forces of Pakistan equivalent to the rank of a Lieutenant General; or (iii) is a retired Federal Government Officer in BPS 22 or equivalent.] 4[(c) * * * * * * *]

Effective date: 1999-01-01

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