November 24, 2001	Saturday	Ramazan 8, 1422

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MUZAFFARABAD, Nov 23: AJK High Court Chief Justice Syed Manzoor Hussain Gillani on Friday reprimanded Advocate-General Raja Abrar Ahmed for the government’s failure to clarify its position regarding the appointment of the acting prime minister.

The appointment of the minister for works, Syed Mumtaz Ali Gillani, the acting prime minister of Azad Kashmir was challenged by the opposition People’s Party through a writ petition about a week ago on the grounds that since he was not designated as senior minister, he could not perform the functions of the prime minister.

The chief justice fixed Friday for hearing of the petition, asking the government to submit its statement on the issue to the court before or on Friday.

However, when the hearing began on Wednesday, the CJ came to know that the government had not submitted its statement.

When he asked the advocate-general why the statement had not been submitted, the AG said a relevant file was with the chief secretary, who was not present in the capital.

The CJ told the AG that it was not the problem of the court to see who was in possession of the file or whether he was present in or absent from the capital, and that all that the court needed was an official version on the points agitated by the petitioner.

He asked the AG to appear before the court with the official statement on Saturday when the hearing of the matter will resume.