Ministry delays notifying law officers’ appointment

AGP office and law ministry come into conflict with one another on various issues

ISLAMABAD:

Despite approval of a summary by the prime minister and the president, the Ministry of Law and Justice is reluctant to issue notification for appointment of three new law officers.

Sources in the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) office revealed that both the PM and the president have approved the summary for appointment of one additional attorney general (AAG) and two deputy attorney generals (DAG) one week ago but the ministry is not issuing the notification.

Generally, the ministry issues a notification soon after approval of a summary by the competent authorities.

The sources disclosed that since appointment of Khalid Javed Khan as the new AGP in February, the AGP office and law ministry have come into conflict with one another on a number of issues including appointment of law officers.

Last month, the law ministry sent a summary to the PM regarding removal and new appointments of few law officers without the consent of AGP Khan. When this came into the AGP’s knowledge, he strongly protested. Later, an amended summary was sent with the consent of the AGP.

The ministry officials are trying hard for the removal of a senior law officer and to replace him with a new one but the AGP is unwilling to do this because he is satisfied with the officer’s performance.

Last month, the AGP got resignation from a former deputy attorney general, Asghar Ali, in view of his performance but Ali wrote a letter to the president, requesting him not to accept his resignation.

Later, the AGP wrote a letter to the law ministry, citing reasons as to why Ali’s resignation was sought. A copy of the AGP’s letter was also sent to the PM and president.

According to the sources, the president on July 31 approved nomination of Maulvi Sirajul Haq – brother of former AGP Maulvi Anwarul Haq – for the post of deputy attorney general (DAG) and that of the incumbent DAG Sohail Mahmood for the post of additional attorney general.

However, notification of the appointments is still awaited.

When The Express Tribune contacted Law Secretary Khashih-ur-Rehman to know status of the notification, he expressed ignorance of the matter and said he would check details before responding.

A senior official in the AGP office said the PM is completely satisfied with the performance of AGP Khalid Javed Khan. The premier has also given him free hand to remove or induct law officers.

The official revealed that now the top functionaries are giving importance to the AGP’s opinion in crucial matters including the case of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.   Earlier, these functionaries had no option but to relay on the opinion of the law ministry led by Dr Farogh Naseem.

The superior judiciary is also satisfied with the performance of incumbent AGP.

Senior lawyers believe that the AGP office should be autonomous from the administrative control of the law ministry. However, bureaucracy is the biggest hurdle to the autonomy of the AGP office.

Even former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had given the nod to give autonomy to the AGP office but the key organ of the state is still dependent on the Ministry of Law.

A senior official, who has worked in the AGP office, said, “In the last two decades, we haven’t seen any cordial relationship between the law minister and the AGP,” he added.