ISLAMABAD: Looking to tighten the reins on associate law officers, the law ministry has written to the prime minister, asking that deputy attorney generals (DAGs) and additional attorney generals (AAGs) be barred from taking on private cases.

The 18th Amendment may bar the principal law officer of the land – the attorney general – from continuing his private practice while in office, but no such restrictions exist for the law officers working with the attorney general.

Under the amendment, in Article 100 of the Constitution titled ‘Attorney General for Pakistan’, it is clearly stipulated that the attorney general “shall not engage in private practice so long as he holds the office”.

Sources in the ministry told Dawn that the spirit of this amendment was to insulate the attorney general’s office from ‘private practice’, to avoid a conflict of interest between an individual lawyer’s duties as a law officer, and their private practice, in cases where the wishes of the client may clash with government policy. If the ministry’s request is granted, DAGs and AAGs will be expected to concentrate solely on government cases.

- Asks PM to bar DAGs, AAGs from continuing private practice while in govt employ - Former AAG says law officers shirk official work, prefer paid private cases - Income from private cases is over and above govt salary, benefits - Ministry also seeks details of consultants’ private cases

A senior law ministry official confirmed that the letter which had been forwarded to the prime minister and suggested that law officers be forbidden from continuing their private practice while in the employ of the state in order to improve their efficiency. Unlike constitutional appointees, DAGs and AAGs serve “at the pleasure of the government” on contract-basis and can be let go when their services are no longer required.

According to an official list, there are 130 government law officers: the AG, six AAGs and 38 DAGs, while the rest are standing counsel. The AG is paid around Rs1 million per month apart from other privileges, AAGs get around Rs700,000, while DAGs and standing counsel get between Rs150,000 and Rs100,000 in addition to chauffeur-driven cars and a security detail.

The six current AAGs are Rana Waqar, Khawaja Saeedul Zafar, Afnan Karim Kundi, Naseer Ahmed Bhutta, Salman Talibuddin and Tariq Shah.

Despite having an expansive team on its payroll, the government has not been completely successful in getting their way in court in the context of the recent political crisis.

Propriety

Raja Javed Ashraf, a former AAG, told Dawn that once a law officer engages himself in private practice, it is difficult for them to focus on government cases as their energies are devoted towards satisfying their paying clients. Private clients demand more time and it becomes difficult for the law officer to give the same kind of dedication to government cases simultaneously, he said.

The superior courts, he said, can also discourage law officers from pursuing their private practices. Indeed, there have been observations made against such trends, but successive governments have not taken any steps to stop this practice.

Last month, a judge of the Islamabad High Court, while hearing a matter regarding the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), raised questions over the presence of a deputy attorney general in his courtroom and expressed his surprise when the DAG told him that he was representing a private party in his personal capacity.

Mr Ashraf was of the opinion that the government should ban government lawyers from pursuing private practice, because they “compromise their official duties for the sake of private case fees”.

The Punjab Prosecution Department, he said, had banned the private practices of its public prosecutors, deputy prosecutors general and the prosecutor general, in 2006. He said that in his time as DAG and AAG, he never engaged in private litigation.

The sources said that certain law officers in lieu of their private practice are charging heavy fee from the oil and gas companies as well as from some public sector organisations.

AAG Naseer Ahmed Bhutta told Dawn that there were no restrictions on law officers from continuing their private practice, except the attorney general himself. The Additional Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General and Standing Counsel (Terms and Conditions) Rules 2011 permitted them to continue working for the private parties in a personal capacity, he said.

Consultants

In addition to writing to the prime minister, sources in the law ministry also told Dawn that they had asked the AG’s office to provide details of private cases where consultants to the AG are getting fees.

The four consultants in the AG office are working in the ‘management pay scale’ and are receiving pay equivalent to that of a grade 22 officer.

A source in the ministry said that after the law ministry sought details about consultants’ and law officers’ practices, one consultant resigned while senior law officers have also begun deliberating whether they would prefer the government job over their private practice.

The official also told Dawn that in a separate letter to the AG, the ministry has also asked that a similar bar be placed on consultants. A special pro forma has also been forwarded to existing consultants, asking them to divulge details about their private practice.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2014