LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday provisionally reinstated 20 law officers removed by the caretaker government of Punjab. The court passed the stay order on a petition filed by the additional and assistant advocate generals including Tipu Salman Makhdoom, Rai Shahid Saleem, Ali Ijaz, Asif Cheema and Shazia Ashraf Khan.
Former advocate general of Punjab Ahmad Awais represented the petitioners and argued that the caretaker government had no powers to terminate the law officers. He said a caretaker government could not perform the functions of an elected government.
He argued that the caretaker governments were formed to hold fair and free elections only. He, therefore, asked the court to set aside the impugned notifications regarding the removal of the law officers.
Through a notification issued on January 24, the caretaker government had removed AGP Awais and assigned a look-after charge to Additional Advocate General Muhammad Jawad Yaqoob.
Other removed law officers included 32 additional and 65 assistant advocate generals. The government also appointed 55 new additional and assistant advocate generals.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023