Govt to appoint new AGP in two days

• Azam Nazeer Tarar confirms AGP to be appointed with 2-3 days.
  
• He says govt is cautious about concerns shown by judiciary.
• Awan refuses to accept post due to engagements as private counsel.

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has started looking for a new attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) days after Mansoor Usman Awan recused himself from taking charge, The News reported on Saturday.

The judiciary expressed displeasure with the government for not filling this important constitutional post after former AGP Ashtar Ausaf Ali tendered his resignation in October last year due to health reasons.

President Dr Arif Alvi approved the appointment of Awan, who is a Supreme Court lawyer, as the AGP  on December 23 after accepting Ausaf's resignation. However, the federal government did not notify the appointment.

Ausaf had requested Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to relieve him, citing health reasons. However, the prime minister asked him to continue till the appointment of his predecessor. He, however, did not turn up at the court to represent the federal government.

“I am going to meet PM Shehbaz today (Saturday) and possibly the issue of appointing the new attorney general will be finalised within two or three days,” Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar said. 

He revealed that first Awan consented to be the attorney general but later he verbally and in writing refused to accept the office, citing his professional engagements.

“I can’t disclose the names of the new potential candidates, being nominated for the slot of attorney general but hopefully the prime minister will finalise the name within two to three days,” he told The News. 

Tarar said he will especially meet the prime minister today and will discuss the issue with him. He further added that the government was quite cautious about the concerns being highlighted by the judiciary over the delay in filling the post of AGP. 

SC seeks new AGP's details

On January 11, the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan also called into question the official status of the new AGP after the AGP's office failed to assist the apex court in a property-related case.

Taking notice of the appointment of the new and the resignation of the last AGP, a two-member bench of the SC — headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa — took up the case.

The court summoned the secretary of law to the next hearing and ordered him to bring all the documents related to the new attorney general's appointment and the former's resignation.

During the hearing, the judge observed that "the office of Awan, the new AGP, has not been properly providing assistance to the court in cases for which it seeks an explanation".

"Who is the attorney general?" Justice Isa — during the hearing — questioned Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Shafqat Abbasi, who replied: "Ashtar Ausaf".

"Ausaf has resigned and his resignation has been accepted," Justice Isa said.

"Who is the new attorney general?" he questioned. The deputy attorney-general said he was unaware of it.

Justice Isa then questioned Additional Attorney General (AAG) Aamir Rehman about the new AGP, who also failed to respond.