Islamabad, (TLTP): Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has demanded the removal of Law Minister Farogh Nasim from the federal cabinet.
The PBC urged the Supreme Court to take contempt of court notice of remarks made by former attorney-general Anwar Mansoor Khan and include Nasim in the notice. Khan tendered an unconditional apology and resigned but the council still wants action against him.
The PBC in a statement said that Prime Minister Imran Khan must remove Nasim from the cabinet in the interest of the country and a democratic Parliament.
The premier must take this step immediately, read the statement. It alleged that Nasim is the “mastermind” of “conspiracies against the judiciary.”
It also called for a high-powered judicial commission to investigate conspiracies against the judiciary. The former attorney-general had said that the statement he made in court was in line with the government’s stance, read the statement.
Earlier on Thursday last (February 20, 2020), Pakistan’s chief law officer Capt. (retired) Anwar Mansoor Khan tendered resignation, saying that he is stepping down to respect the demand of Pakistan Bar Council – the apex regulatory body of the lawyers.
However, the government side claimed that it is outcome of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s displeasure over the attorney general’s contemptuous remarks about superior judiciary during adjudication of the presidential reference against one of the sitting judges of the top court, Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
In his resignation to President Arif Alvi, Capt. (retired) Anwar Mansoor Khan said the Pakistan Bar Council has asked for his resignation. “Being a life member of Karachi Bar Association, Sindh Bar Association and the Supreme Court Bar Association, and having previously served as the Advocate-General Sindh, the Attorney-General for Pakistan and a judge of the High Court of Sindh, I stand with my brothers and colleagues at the Bar and I wish to reaffirm my faith in the highest principles of integrity and professional excellence that the Pakistan Bar Council has always stood for,” the letter read.
Khan added, “I hereby resign from the position of the Attorney-General for Pakistan and request you to accept it with immediate effect. In the last year and a half, I worked to the best of my ability to serve this solemn office with honesty of purpose, and commitment to upholding the constitution.”
However, Law Minister Farogh Naseem and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar claimed that Khan was asked to resign after his controversial statement in the Supreme Court. The statements from the ministers came after law secretary submitted a response in the top court on behalf of the President, the Prime Minister, law minister and SAPM on accountability regarding the controversial statement from the attorney general.
