PESHAWAR, June 9: The appointment of Mr Hamid Farooq Durrani as advocate-general of the NWFP has triggered a bitter row between Chief Minister Akram Durrani and Chief Secretary Ijaz Qureshi, and the former is reported to have requested the federal government to remove the latter. According to sources, the controversy started after the chief secretary sent a summary to NWFP Governor Khalilur Rehman, recommending the name of Mr Hamid Farooq for the post of advocate-general.

The sources said the governor was well within his constitutional powers to appoint the advocate-general, but the chief minister was of the view that his advice should have been sought for the appointment.

It may be recalled that former Governor Iftikhar Hussain Shah had turned down a panel suggested by the provincial government that included the name of a brother of Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Malik Zafar Azam.

Much to the chagrin of the provincial government, Mr Shah returned the file and sought a larger panel.

The present governor had initiated the move to appoint a new advocate-general to fill the office vacated by Barrister Jehanzeb Rahim who has been elevated as the Peshawar High Court judge.

Significantly, the summary to appoint Mr Hamid Farooq was moved by the law department through the chief secretary, which was sent to the governor directly.

The chief minister was caught unawares when the notification for the appointment was issued.

Angry at having been ‘bypassed’, the chief minister is reported to have had a serious argument with the chief secretary before summoning Establishment Secretary Arbab Shehzad and ordering him to send all official files directly to him.

The establishment secretary was also told that the government planned to amend the rules of business and henceforth all official files be sent to the chief minister directly instead of being routed through the chief secretary, the sources said.

However, the secretary informed the chief minister that according to the standing operating procedure all files must go through the office of the chief secretary.

The chief minister, the sources said, did not like the reply and ordered removal of the establishment secretary henceforth.

The sources claimed that on Wednesday night at around 11pm a police mobile was sent to bring a section officer of the establishment department to issue an immediate notification for the removal of the establishment secretary.

The section officer informed his superiors that no such notification could be issued without the approval and signature of the chief secretary.

The scene of the tug of war between the two heavyweights of the NWFP has now been shifted to Islamabad where the chief minister and the chief secretary Ijaz Qureshi are camping to sort out the matter.

MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman is also said to have jumped into the fray and lent his support to Mr Durrani.

It is against the backdrop of this row between the two powerful figures of the NWFP that speculations about a possible replacement of the chief secretary are doing the rounds.

One name being touted is that of Sharif Ahmad Khan.