The federal government on Saturday decided to appoint Ashtar Ausaf Ali as the new Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP).
The law ministry has forwarded a summary regarding his appointment. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar confirmed with The Express Tribune that the decision was taken after his meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier in the day.
The appointment of AGP has been finalised after consultation of three weeks with various stakeholders.
Earlier, the government wanted to appoint the new AGP after an informal consultation with Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial as the post is important for the superior judiciary as well.
The AGP is a member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) which recommends names for new judges to the superior courts.
Keeping in view the importance of the constitutional post, senior lawyers say that in the past, every chief justice had desired an AGP, who could properly assist the court in complicated constitutional matters as well as implementation of its orders.
Similarly, the JCP’s working has changed in the last couple of years as every commission member has a vote during the appointment process. Therefore, the nominations of both the AGP and the law minister are crucial in the judges’ appointment. Currently, three posts of the Supreme Court judges are vacant.
On the other hand, the incumbent government cannot overlook the opinion of the superior bars – which played a key role in replacing the PTI government with the PML-N-led government – regarding the appointments of the law minister and the AGP.
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Different names including those of Salman Aslam Butt, Faisal Naqvi, Fasial Siddiqi, Salman Akram Raja and Zaid Hamid were suggested and considered by the relevant stakeholders.
The representatives of bar suggested the name of Ausaf as the new AGP who was also the counsel in a case wherein the Lahore High Court had directed National Assembly speaker to administer oath of new Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz.
Ausaf had served as the 32nd AGP during the previous PML-N regime. During his tenure, the Supreme Court had investigated the Panamagate wherein the Sharif family was accused.
At the end of his last tenure, Ausaf received praise for persuading the government to split the attorney general’s office from the law ministry and establishing it as an independent institution.
As convener of the Treaty Implementation Cell, he was also able to win the renewal of the GSP Plus economic package offered by the EU, in exchange for the implementation of the core conventions.
Legal experts have credited Ausaf with salvaging the GSP Plus package that allowed a much-needed boost to Pakistan’s exports.
The Supreme Court also relied on his submissions in a landmark decision, authored by Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa, which ruled against the registration of multiple FIRs.
As AGP, he spearheaded the drafting of the 25th Amendment merging FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, began the settlement process that culminated in the resolution of the $6 billion Reko Diq investment dispute, and the renewal of the GSP Plus trade package.
Meanwhile, it is also learnt that the government is planning to de-notify the majority of law officers soon.
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