PHC reserves verdict on petition against AG’s appointment

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Monday reserved its judgement on a writ petition filed against the appointment of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa advocate general.

A three-member bench of the PHC consisting of Justice SM Atiq Shah, Justice Shakeel Ahmad and Justice Naeem Anwar reserved the judgement after hearing the arguments from both sides. The caretaker government appointed the KP advocate general. The petitioner Ali Azeem Afridi Advocate had challenged the appointment.

Barrister Mudassir Ameer represented the advocate general while Mohsin Kamran Sadiq appeared for the Election Commission of Pakistan. Pleading his case before the bench, the petitioner told the court that the office of the advocate general was a constitutional one, therefore, an elected government was mandated to make the appointment.

He further argued that the caretaker setup did not have even the authority to appoint a government official. He said the governor issued the notification for the appointment of the advocate general without the recommendation of the chief minister, which was an unconstitutional act on his part.

The bench asked the petitioner whether the previous advocate general had resigned or was removed? He told the court that he had been removed. Barrister Mudassir Ameer said that the office of the advocate general was a constitutional position who was supposed to assist the government in legal matters.