With less than two months in office, Barrister Shehzad Ata Elahi has resigned as Attorney General for Pakistan, a private TV channel reported on Friday. On February 2, the Ministry of Law and Justice announced that Barrister Shehzad Ata Elahi was picked as AGP. Elahi had filled the shoes of AGP after Mansoor Usman Awan recused himself from taking charge as the government’s top lawyer. Barrister Elahi, a member of the renowned law firm Cornelius, Lane & Mufti, is the grandson of former president Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry. Elahi – with extensive expertise in commercial, tax, and banking laws, as well as civil, corporate, constitutional litigation-represented the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association in cases involving constitutionality and legality of the Sugar Inquiry Commission.
Interestingly, Supreme Court judge Justice Ijazul Ahsan also worked with this firm before his elevation to the bench. Hamid Khan and Salman Aslam Butt are senior members of this firm and former chief justice Jawad S Khawaja had also worked with it. As AGP, Elahi had made waves after he offered clarification on behalf of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial for an unconfirmed controversial remark during the hearing of a case.