PML-N loyalists accommodated as law officers

The incumbent govt issued a notification about the appointment of 18 law officers

ISLAMABAD: In the wake of massive expansion in federal cabinet, the PML-N government started accommodating a number of party lawyers as law officers in the last month of its tenure.

The incumbent government issued a notification about the appointment of 18 law officers, most of whom were affiliated with the PML-N. However, questions are being raised on their appointment in the last month of government’s tenure.

According to the notification dated May 7, the president appointed Sajid Aziz, Arshad Mahmood, Ghulam Dastagir Butt, Maqsood Hssain, Shaukat Mahmood Satti, Muhammad Faiz Ahmed Cheema and Yousaf Mehmood Quraishi as Assistant Attorneys-General, Rawalpindi/Islamabad.



Similarly, several other lawyers were accommodated on posts of assistant and deputy attorneys-general in various cities.

The law ministry is reported to have sent another summary detailing the appointment of Khawar Ikram Bhatti as Additional Attorney-General to the prime minister’s secretariat.

Surprisingly, sources said that none of these law officers were appointed by the Attorney-General, who is the head of all law officers.

They also contended that all law officers were appointed on law ministry’s recommendations.

Expressing concern over this development, PTI’s lawyer Chaudhry Faisal Hussain said that most of these were members of the PML-N’s legal team and they regularly appeared in accountability courts to express solidarity with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

He said that this was a ploy on the PML-N government’s part to accommodate loyalists, hoping that they could be useful during the tenure of the caretaker government.

Hussain also said that they would file a petition in court for removing all federal and provincial law officers during the tenure of the interim government’s set-up.

Under the law, there was neither any need to consult the attorney-general to appoint law officers nor his consent was required in this regard because they were all employed by the law ministry.

The attorney-general also could not post or transfer any law officer, they said.

It is also learnt that efforts were also being made to dissociate the attorney-general’s office from the law ministry.

A summary in this regard was also sent to the PM’s office for amending rules to make the office independent, but the matter was deferred to the next government.

Legal experts are unanimous that the attorney-general’s office should be independent, making it more transparent and neutral.

At least 150 law officers are currently working across the country.

The law ministry and attorney-general’s office were persistently involved in a tug-of-war.



In foreign countries, the attorney-general’s office is a powerful and independent institution, but in Pakistan, the office cannot initiate any step without taking the law ministry into confidence.

One section of law officers believes that rules should be framed for `appointing competent law officers.

Lawyers contend that law officers should be appointed purely on competence and merit and not on political considerations.

Recently, the SC took notice after it learnt that some law officers were being paid fees by various government departments.

The court sought a reply from the attorney-general and law ministry on whether the law officers could charge fees from government departments.