President appoints Mansoor Usman Awan as new attorney general

President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday accepted the resignation of Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Barrister Shehzad Ata Elahi and approved the appointment of Advocate Supreme Court Mansoor Usman Awan as the new Attorney General.

A statement issued by the President's House said that the president had accepted the resignation of Elahi — who had quit the last week citing “personal reasons” — and had appointed Awan as the AGP under Article 100 of the Constitution on the advice of the prime minister.

The Ministry of Law and Justice subsequently notified Awan as the new AGP. In his resignation letter that he addressed to the president on March 24, Elahi cited “personal reasons” for tendering his resignation. However, he later clarified, denying that he had been asked to resign.

Elahi was appointed as the AGP on February 2 after Awan, whose nomination for becoming the government principal law officer was approved by the president in December last year, expressed his inability to take charge as the AGP.

Awan had conveyed his intention to not take office in a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. “Due to unavoidable professional commitments, I will be unable to serve as the AGP at this time,” he had said.