ISLAMABAD: The federal government has appointed Mian Abdul Rauf as the prosecutor general who will handle cases filed under the Protection of Pakistan Act (PPA), despite his failure to successfully prosecute high profile cases such as the Salmaan Taseer murder case and the detention of alleged Mumbai attacks mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

Mian Rauf was appointed advocate general Islamabad (AGI) in November of last year and was responsible for prosecuting both cases in this capacity.

On March 9, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) acquitted Mumtaz Qadri – the self-confessed murderer of Salmaan Taseer – of terrorism charges, while upholding his conviction under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

A Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC), in October 2011, awarded the death sentence to Qadri on two counts – under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and Section 302 of the PPC.

Mian Rauf said to be responsible for Qadri, Lakhvi’s unsuccessful prosecution

Mian Rauf was also representing the federal government in the case of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. On Mar 13, the IHC set aside Lakhvi’s detention order, observing that the prosecution had failed to produce the material “on the basis of which, it could be ascertained that the detention of the petitioner is justified”.

Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi of the IHC, in his order of Mar 13, also observed that the federal government did not place any of the material that they intended to place before the review board constituted to examine Lakhvi’s detention, before the court.

Following the verdict, a senior law officer had told Dawn that Mian Rauf was responsible for giving his legal opinion to the district administration regarding the extension in Lakhvi’s detention. “He was pleading this case in the IHC and it was his responsibility to place the record before the IHC.”

Following his appointment as AGI, a lawyer had also filed a petition against Mian Rauf’s posting in the IHC. The petitioner, advocate Yasir Chaudhry had alleged that the criteria adopted for the appointment of AGI was ‘unconstitutional’. The IHC, however, had dismissed the petition after just one hearing.

Before his appointment as AGI, Mian Rauf’s name was also forwarded to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) and recommended for appointment as an additional judge of the IHC, but the commission had discarded his name.

Mian Rauf told Dawn that he had considerable experience handling all types of cases. He said that the position of PPA prosecutor general is a very important job and several lawyers were reluctant to accept the responsibility.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2015

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