ISLAMABAD: Barrister Khalid Javed Khan has been appointed the new Attorney General for Pakistan, replacing Anwar Mansoor Khan, who had tendered his resignation from the post, an official notification stated on Saturday.
The development was confirmed by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan earlier this week.
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."
On Thursday, the government's spokesperson confirmed that the federal government had decided to appoint Khalid Javed Khan as the AGP.
According to PTI's official Twitter account, Prime Minister Imran Khan also directed the law ministry to move a summary for the appointment of Khalid Javed Khan as the new attorney general of the country.
“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.
Anwar Mansoor had resigned from the post after the Pakistan Bar Council had demanded his resignation over some comments he made regarding Supreme Court judges, for which he had been reprimanded by the court as well.
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.