LAHORE: The provincial government has once again appointed senior lawyer Ahmad Awais as advocate general of Punjab.

A notification issued on Wednesday said, “Governor of Punjab is pleased to appoint Mr Ahmad Awais, advocate of Supreme Court of Pakistan, as Advocate General, Punjab, with immediate effect in public interest.”

The office of the Punjab’s principal law officer has been lying vacant since resignation by Ahmad Jamal Sukhera in February this year.

Sukhera was appointed on April 16, 2019 following resignation by Mr Awais, the first advocate general of the PTI’s government in the province.

Mr Awais had resigned after contempt proceedings were initiated against him by a full bench of the Lahore High Court.

He was served with a contempt notice for creating a scene in the courtroom and trying to pressurise the bench at the time of announcement of a verdict against second JIT on Model Town incident.

Mr Awais preferred resignation over an apology and accused the members of the bench of committing misconduct. The three-judge bench had discharged the contempt proceedings against him, showing judicial restraint.

Incumbent Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court Muhammad Qasim Khan headed the bench as a senior judge, along with Justice Malik Shehzad Ahmad Khan and Justice Aalia Neelum.

The petitions against the Model Town JIT are still pending adjudication before a seven-member larger bench headed by CJ Khan, which is scheduled to resume its hearing on Sept 9.

In a post-resignation video message shared on social media, Mr Awais had also announced to contest, what he claimed, the “gross misconduct, irregularity and illegality” committed by the bench. Later, he had filed a reference before the Supreme Judicial Council against the members of the full bench and sought their removal on the charge of ‘misconduct’.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2020