LAHORE: The provincial law and parliamentary affairs department on Tuesday sent a summary to the Chief Minister Punjab for removal of Advocate General Punjab Ahmad Awais while the incumbent claimed that he would continue to work till a decision by the governor.
The summary forwarded by secretary law to Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz said, “The government has desired to remove Ahmad Awais, Advocate General Punjab, with immediate effect.”
It said the Chief Minister may advise the governor in terms of article 140 read with article 105 of the Constitution read with item 4 of Part A of Third Schedule of Punjab Government Rules of Business, 2011, to remove and appoint the Advocate General.
The summary also requested the Chief Minister to advise the governor to assign the duties to look after the work of the AGP to additional advocate general Akhtar Javed till appointment of a regular principal law officer.
In response to the government’s summary, AGP Awais in a press conference in his office told the media persons that the Chief Minister had not power to remove him.
He claimed that the law officer could not be terminated without the approval of the governor. He alleged that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was a fascist and had been violating the Constitution. He urged Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo motu notice of the situation in the province.
Awais was appointed as AGP for a second time on July 29, 2020. Previously, he had resigned after contempt proceedings were initiated against him by a full bench of the Lahore High Court in 2019.
He was served with a contempt notice for creating a scene in the courtroom and trying to pressurize the bench at the time of announcement of a verdict against second JIT on Model Town incident.
Awais preferred resignation over an apology and accused the members of the bench of committing misconduct. The bench, however, discharged the contempt proceedings showing judicial restraint.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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