ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Law and Justice on Saturday notified Khalid Jawed Khan as the new Attorney General (AG) for Pakistan.

As per the notification issued by the law ministry, President Arif Alvi has appointed “Khalid Jawed Khan as Attorney General for Pakistan with the rank and status of federal minister with immediate effect”.

The notification stated: “In exercise of powers conferred under Article 100 (1) of the constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973, the President is please to appoint Mr Khalid Jawed Khan as Attorney General.”

The copy of the notification has been delivered to the secretaries of President Secretariat and Prime Minister Office, the registrar of Supreme Court, Solicitor General, Accountant General Pakistan Revenue and officials of the law ministry.

New AG has been selected from among eight eminent lawyers

Mr Khan has replaced Anwar Mansoor Khan who resigned from this post on Thursday.

Before his appointment, the authorities in the federal government contacted Mr Khan and confirmed his appointment in the prestigious office.

Sources in the law ministry said that Mr Khan had been selected from eight eminent lawyers. Besides Khan, the other lawyers considered for this post were Abid Zuberi, Punjab advocate general Ahmad Jamal Sukhera, Syed Ali Zafar, Kamal Azfar, Naeem Bukhari and Molvi Anwarul Haq. They had have given consent for the appointment on the coveted post of the attorney general, they added.

Senior advocate Makhdoom Ali Khan, however, declined to accept the post.

Mr Khan served as the attorney general during the interim government prior to the July 2018 general elections.

The sources said he was offered to continue as the attorney general after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) formed the government. But, they added, he had declined the offer since an influential figure had recommended Anwar Mansoor Khan for this position and also arranged his meeting with Imran Khan in Banigala.

Khalid Jawed Khan is a son of N.D. Khan, a senior politician who served as law minister during the second government of the Pakistan Peoples Party.

He is a senior lawyer who has appeared before the Supreme Court in a number of cases and also served as Advocate General for Sindh in 2013 as well as he remained a member of the Privatisation Commission of Pakistan from 1995 to 1996.

He also served in the office of the Attorney General as consultant during the government of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Anwar’s resignation

Anwar Mansoor Khan had to tender resignation from the coveted post for levelling allegations against some members of the Supreme Court bench hearing petitions challenging the filing of presidential references against Justice Qazi Faez Isa of Supreme Court.

Though Anwar Mansoor claimed that he had decided to quit on his own in compliance with the demand of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), the law ministry said he was asked to do so.

Anwar Mansoor, however, disagreed with the government stance that he had been asked to tender his resignation.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had categorically asked Anwar Mansoor to apologise or produce evidence on the basis of which he had levelled allegations against the members of the bench without naming anyone. The court had, however, restrained the media from reporting the allegations. The resignation came after the federal government distanced itself from Anwar Mansoor’s remarks.

The two separate statements issued by lawyers’ premier bodies — Pakistan Bar Council and Supreme Court Bar Association — demanding immediate resignation of Anwar Mansoor as well as an apology further aggravated the situation. Consequently, Anwar Mansoor had tendered his resignation.

In his one-page resignation letter to President Alvi, Anwar Mansoor stated: “I note with profound regret that the Pakistan Bar Council, of which I am the Chairman, has demanded through its Feb 19 press release that I resign forthwith from the Office of the Attorney General of Pakistan.”

The PBC had a day earlier decided to file a contempt petition against the attorney general and Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem over Mr Khan’s statement against the SC bench.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2020