• Who is AGP and where is he, asks Justice Isa
• Usman Mansoor Awan’s appointment approved by president but notification still awaited

ISLAMABAD: The delays on the part of the federal government in notifying its principal law officer finally caught the attention of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, when Law Secretary Raja Naeem was summoned on Jan 17 along with the relevant summary regarding the fresh appointment and resignation of the previous attorney general for Pakistan (AGP).

“Where is the AGP and who is the AGP,” wondered Justice Qazi Faez Isa while heading a two-judge bench that had taken up a matter regarding a property in Rawalpindi’s cantonment area.

The issue cropped up when, during the hearing, Justice Isa asked Deputy Attorney General Raja Shafqat Abbasi who was the current AGP. In response, the DAG stated Ashtar Ausaf Ali was still the AGP.

At the heart of the controversy is the non-issuance of the notification of Mansoor Usman Awan, who was appointed the 37th AGP on Dec 23 following the approval of President Arif Alvi. Mr Awan was appointed to fill the office when his predecessor Ashtar Ausaf Ali tendered his resignation in Oct due to health reasons, though was retained by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to continue serving until his replacement can take over.

An announcement from the Presidency had confirmed that the appointment of Usman Mansoor Awan had been approved after the acceptance of Ashtar Ausaf’s resignation.

But to the surprise of many, no notification has been issued by the Ministry of Law to date, despite the passage of 19 days. This indecisiveness on part of the government forced Mansoor Awan to represent Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman before the Lahore High Court on Wednesday.

“A de facto veto was exercised against the appointment of the government-proposed AGP,” former Additional Attorney General Tariq Mehmood Khokhar commented, adding that an intra-institutional polarity, personal piques and favourites were some of the obvious reasons for the “contrived impasse”.

Another law officer, on condition of anonymity, said given the present situation, it would have been very difficult for any law officer to perform to the best of their abilities.

But now, after the court’s notice, it has become mandatory for the government to decide as to who will represent it in court as its principal law officer, he said, adding that the clock is ticking since the apex court has given the government until Jan 17 to make up its mind.

Meanwhile, during Wednesday’s hearing, Justice Isa questioned why the DAG was using the word “sahib”, regretting that the mental enslavement since the colonial era still persists.

The DAG however stated that he has a lot of respect for Mr Ausaf, who is his elder as well. This is why he was showing the AGP deference and calling him ‘sahib’.

When asked where Ashtar Ausaf was, the DAG said he may be in Lahore, but he was not sure.

At this point, Justice Isa observed that according to media reports, Mr Ausaf had already resigned.

Justice Isa also asked the DAG to read Article 100 (4), which states that the AGP could resign from his office by writing to the president, who then appoints a person qualified to be appointed judge of the Supreme Court to head the office.

The DAG, however, replied that he had not read the newspaper, adding that he also has no knowledge of who had been appointed the new AGP.

Additional Attorney General Chaudhry Aamir Rehman who was also present in courtroom to plead a different case, however, informed the court that the government had appointed Usman Mansoor Awan, but Justice Isa regretted that no AGP had appeared in his court for the past year.

The AAG however explained that he was not in a position to make any statement before the court.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2023