Barrister Khalid Javed Khan appointed Attorney General of Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Barrister Khalid Javed Khan has been appointed the new Attorney General for Pakistan after Anwar Mansoor Khan tendered his resignation from the post, an official notification stated on Saturday.

The official notification released today stated: "In exercise of powers conferred under Article 100(1) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973, the President is pleased to appoint Mr. Khalid Jawed Khan as Attorney General for Pakistan with the rank and status of Federal Minister with immediate effect."

Earlier on Thursday, the federal government took the decision to appoint Khalid Javed Khan as the AGP.

The development was confirmed by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan.

The Pakistan Bar Council had demanded Anwar Mansoor Khan's resignation over some comments he made regarding Supreme Court judges, for which he had been reprimanded by the court as well.

The Supreme Court had on Wednesday directed Khan to produce evidence supporting his comments or submit a written apology about his controversial statement.

The statement itself had been expunged from the court record.

The government on Thursday also submitted a response to the Supreme Court regarding the statements made by Anwar Masood Khan in court earlier in the week, saying that the remarks by Khan were unauthorised and without the knowledge of the federal government. 

PM gives approval for Khalid Javed's appointment

Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the law ministry to move a summary for the appoint of Khalid Javed Khan as the new attorney general of the country, the ruling party announced on it's official Twitter handle.

“The Prime Minister has decided to appoint Mr Khalid Javed Khan as the new Attorney General. The Law Ministry has been directed to move summary for his appointment today,” said the tweet. 

Read more: Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan resigns from office after run-in with Supreme Court

Barrister Khalid Javed: A profile

Javed enrolled as an advocate of the high court in 1991. In 2004, he became an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He used to advise former prime minister Benazir Bhutto when she was in office during 1993-1996 as a legal adviser to the attorney general for Pakistan.

The Karachi-based law specialises in many branches of law such as constitutional law, income tax, sales tax, customs, land matters, banking law and service laws. He is the son of N.D.Khan, a prominent PPP leader.

Javed secured his LLB degree from London University, BCL (bachelor of civil law) degree from Oxford University, LLM from Harvard University and completed his bar-at-law from Lincoln's Inn.

He is known for his opposition to General (retd) Pervez Musharraf's Provisional Constitutional Order and wrote many articles against it.