“Most of them do not fulfil the required criteria and experience for the legal positions,” said Yousafzai, referring to the appointment of 10 additional advocate general and 8 deputy advocate generals by the Peshawar High Court on Friday. PHOTO: FILE
Lawyers affiliated with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have asked the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government to cancel recent appointments of certain law officers in the province.
Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Saturday, Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) activist and senior lawyer Arshad Yousafzai alleged merit was completely disregarded in the recruitment of 18 law officers.
“Most of them do not fulfil the required criteria and experience for the legal positions,” said Yousafzai, referring to the appointment of 10 additional advocate general and 8 deputy advocate generals by the Peshawar High Court on Friday.
According to Yousafzai, the appointed law officers should have been affiliated with PTI as they have to work with the incumbent government regarding legal matters. “Naveed Akhtar and Zahid Yousaf Qureshi were appointed as additional advocate generals. They belong to the Awami National Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, respectively,” Yousafzai informed.
He claimed the five officers who were from PTI – Waqar Ahmad, Syed Qaiser Ali Shah, Rab Nawaz Khan, Adeel Butt and Mohammad Sohail – did not possess the required practical experience and other prerequisites for the posts.
Flanked by senior lawyers Nauroz Khan, Shaukat Khan, Shahbaz Khan and others, Yousafzai blamed K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Israrullah Gandapur for betraying senior activists.
He further alleged the PTI government had failed to fulfil its commitment of change, provision of justice and merit policy. “We will meet PTI Chairman Imran Khan soon to express our concerns over these appointments from outside the party,” he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Nauroz Khan said it was unjust that senior lawyers had been ignored for the positions despite the fact they had the relevant experience ranging from 10-12 years, which was mandatory for the appointment of law officers under Article 193 of the Constitution.
The lawyers demanded the K-P government to immediately take back the ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs from Gandapur and to cancel the notification of appointment of the 18 law officers.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2013.
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