On merit: Top court grants 12 lawyers status of senior advocate

Human rights activist Asma Jahangir is first female lawyer to have been granted the status

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Bar Council vice chairman Farogh Naseem wrote a letter on February 23 to the Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali, requesting him to consider the conferment of status of senior advocate Supreme Court on the merited members of the council.

After detailed discussion, the full court in its meeting dated April 5 has granted the status of senior advocate Supreme Court to 12 lawyers.

Human rights activist Asma Jahangir is the first female lawyer in the country to have been granted the status of senior advocate Supreme Court. Likewise, former Supreme Court Bar Association president Kamran Murtaza is the only lawyer from Balochistan who has got the same status.

According to the list, which is available with The Express Tribune, the full court has granted senior advocate’s status to Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Ashter Ausaf Ali, ex-AGP Salman Aslam Butt, Asma Jahangir, Kamran Murtaza, Anwar Kamal, Ali Subtain Fazli, Muhammad Ilyas Khan, Qadir H Saeed, Shahansha Hussain, Syed Raza Kazim, Fazal-e-Haq Abbasi and Younas Bhatti.

However, according to sources, the full court has deferred the case of three lawyers, including Naeem Bukhari advocate.

Meanwhile, senior lawyer Tariq Mahmood says that it is a big honour for any lawyer to get the status of senior advocate because this position is approved by all the judges of the apex court.

He says that a lawyer moves an application for the enrollment of advocate of the Supreme Court and his interview is conducted by the enrollment committee, headed by a judge.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 7^th, 2016.