ISLAMABAD, May 24: A dispute has cropped up between Law Minister Khalid Ranjha and Attorney-General Makhdoom Ali Khan over the appointment of 17 law officers in the country.

Official sources told Dawn that Dr Ranjha wanted his men as deputy attorney-generals and standing counsels for Lahore. A meeting to sort out the differences was slated on Wednesday but could not be held as the attorney-general had gone to Karachi to represent the federation in a case.

The appointment as deputy attorney-general or standing counsel is considered the first step for becoming a judge of the high court.

The issue of appointments is lingering on for many months. Under rules, the AG has the primacy of opinion in the appointment of law officers.

An amendment to rules to this extent was made during the last PPP government when Qazi Mohammad Jameel was the attorney-general.

Official sources told Dawn that a list was finalized after a meeting of the present AG and the former law minister Shahida Jameel.

But the appointments could not be notified as Shahida Jameel’s portfolio was changed and Dr Ranjha became the law minister.

Now Dr Ranjha wants that the list should be changed and all appointments in Lahore be made with his consent. He wants Malik Pervez as deputy attorney-general, Tariq Shamim as deputy attorney-general, Hameedudin Qasuri as DAG, and Hasnat Khan as standing counsel for the federation.

The original list which was approved by the AG and the previous law minister, included the names of Irfan Qadir as DAG and Yasmin Shegal as standing counsel for the federation. The law minister is not in their favour.

There is hardly any difference on the names for the law officers for Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Hafiz S.A. Rahman and Raja Irshad are tipped as DAG in Islamabad, and Nahida Mehboob Ellahi and Nasir Saeed Sheikh as standing counsel.

For Karachi, Advocate Sajjad Ali Shah is being tipped as standing counsel for the federation, Maqbool Baqir as DAG, Gulzar Noor Mohammad as standing counsel, and Abdul Fateh Malik as standing counsel for Sukkur.