Under threat, govt counsel in NRO review case relieved

The SC, however, does not allow the federation to hire a new one; AAG or AOR told to argue the case.

ISLAMABAD:

While the Supreme Court has excused federation’s counsel Barrister Kamal Azfar from representing the government in the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) review case on security concerns, it has not allowed the federation to change its attorney.

The case will now have to be argued by additional attorney-general KK Agha or the advocate-on-record (AOR) Raja Abdul Ghafur, said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry during the proceedings.

While presiding over the 17-member full court bench on recommencement of the hearing into the NRO review  appeal on Thursday, the chief justice drew attention of the bench to the fax sent to him by Azfar Wednesday evening, stating that his wife Nahida Jaffery and assistant Sardar Zulqarnain have been warned of dire consequences by Advocate Abubakr Zardari, if he appears in court for the NRO review case.

Azfar said the threat appears to have been made on a third-party directive, and has broken the trust between him and the federation. His request for being disengaged from the proceedings was accepted by the chief justice after senior counsel Abdul Hafeez Pirzada advised the bench that under article 187 of the constitution, Azfar can be allowed to disengage himself from representing the federation in this case.

Summoning inspector-general of capital police Wajid Ali Durrani, the court ordered security arrangements for Azfar’s protection. Durrani was also directed to submit an inquiry report of the incident within three days, which will be reviewed by a separate bench constituted for this purpose, the chief justice observed.

Meanwhile, another request by additional AG Agha for a change of counsel was shot down by the bench, citing order 26 of rules 6 whereby a change of counsel cannot be allowed in a review appeal.

When asked to start arguing the case, Agha refused, saying he has not received directions from his client, the federation, to argue.

The court then asked the AOR to argue on behalf of the federation, and warned him that his licence would be revoked if he refused to argue.

Given his hesitation, the court directed Agha to seek direction from the federation, adding that it would not allow for a change of counsel, leaving Agha and the AOR as the only representatives of the federation in this case. They could, however, seek assistance from any lawyer, the bench added.

The hearing was then postponed till Monday, April 18.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2011.