Sindh’s top law officer Abdul Fateh Malik resigns

Sources say he resigned due to differences with PPP-led govt's legal adviser, Murtaza Wahab

Sindh Advocate General Abdul Fatah Malik addressing a press conference in Hyderabad. PHOTO: PPI/FILE

KARACHI:
Sindh's top government lawyer, Advocate Abdul Fateh Malik, resigned from office, sources told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.

Malik was appointed as advocate-general in January 2014. He was not available to comment on his resignation.

Officials privy to the development said that Malik's move was a result of differences with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led government's legal adviser, Murtaza Wahab. Malik was appointed for the second time after his predecessor, Barrister Khalid Javed Khan, had resigned after a nine-month stint citing personal reasons. Khan, who had done Bachelor's of Law (LLB) and Master's of Law (LLM) from Oxford and Harvard Universities respectively, had replaced Malik in June 2013.

Assignments


Malik is a senior lawyer, who had been representing the provincial government in superior courts in different high-profile cases, such as the Karachi violence suo motu proceedings. Sources said that among his recent assignments was assisting the Sindh High Court as prosecutor in contempt of court proceedings initiated against Sindh IG Ghulam Hyder Jamali and other senior police officers on the plea of estranged PPP leader Dr Zulfiqar Mirza.

Last month, the SHC bench had framed contempt of court charge against the officers and was set to initiate proper trial proceedings when the two judges distanced themselves from the case following 'no-confidence' by the alleged accused.

Earlier, during hearing of the contempt of court matter, Malik had occasionally defended the police officers and sought court's pardon by pleading to accept their (officers') unconditional apologies. Rejecting their apologies, the bench had framed charges against them before distancing themselves from the case and referring the matter to Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah to assign the same to any other bench.

Once the matter is assigned to the new bench, under the law, the advocate-general is duty-bound to act as prosecutor and assist the court against the alleged contemnors.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2016.
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