Disconnect: AG ‘once again’ demands CM accept his resignation

LAHORE:

Lawyer Khawaja Haris Ahmed has written to Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif to demand that his resignation from the post of Punjab advocate general be accepted.

The strongly worded letter suggests a rupture in the relationship between the two sides, with Ahmed stating that there was now a “total disconnect” between them.

“It is now more than three weeks since I submitted my resignation, but till today, as per my information, the same has not been processed and forwarded to the competent authority for issuing a formal order for my de-notification as advocate general, Punjab. This indeed is a scandalous state of affairs. More so, since I have categorically conveyed to you that, come what may, I am not taking my resignation back, and that, henceforth, there shall be maintained by me a total disconnect between us,” says the letter.

He added: “I do not want to go into the details of the reasons for my decision, and as to why it is irreversible.”

Ahmed said that by refusing to accept his resignation, the chief minister was violating his “fundamental right to life and to engage in an occupation of my own choice as guaranteed by Article 9 and 18 of the Constitution”.

He asked the chief minister “once again” to complete the process of accepting his resignation “so as to avoid any bitterness on this additional count”.

Ahmed, who was first appointed advocate general in June 2008, has represented the Sharif family in several cases. Seen as a strong ally of the PML-N government, he resigned in February 2009 in protest at the imposition of governor’s rule in the province.

He was reappointed in March 2010 and is now seeking to resign again.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2011.