Daily Times

LAHORE: The caretaker government of Punjab on Wednesday de-notified the advocate general of the province as well as 10 additional advocate generals.

After her removal, additional advocate general, Muhammad Shan Gul, was given the additional charge of the advocate general’s office. Reports suggested that Imtiaz Rasheed Siddiqui’s name was under consideration for the AG’s post. Siddiqui is known for having taken oath as a judge of the Lahore High Court under the provisional constitutional order promulgated by former dictator Pervaiz Musharraf. He was removed from the post on the Supreme Court’s directives following the restoration of democratic rule in the country.

The outgoing AG, Asma Hamid, was appointed to the office by the Shehbaz Sharif administration hours before the end of its tenure, making her the first woman to hold the constitutional post. Asma Hamid, who is a graduate of Harvard University, was appointed as an assistant advocate general in January 2014. She was promoted as the additional advocate general in March 2015. She assumed responsibilities as acting advocate general on two previous occasions.

In a statement, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) condemned the ‘arbitrary removal of Asma Hamid from the post of advocate general Punjab by the Interim government, without any reason or lawful justification’.

The statement said, “Asma Hamid being the first female appointee to the said post had distinguished herself as a professional and capable law officer. Her removal in this arbitrary manner from a constitutional post that has no direct nexus with the political or electoral process is an abuse of discretion and a blatant violation of due process, which is strongly condemned.”

Published in Daily Times, June 21^st 2018.