Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday nominated former chief justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed for the office of the caretaker prime minister.

The announcement was made by PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, who said the premier made the decision after approval from the PTI's core committee.

"I propose the name of Justice (retd) Gulzar Ahmed, former chief justice of Pakistan to be considered for appointment as the caretaker prime minister," reads the letter from the premier to the president.

Subsequently, President Dr Arif Alvi wrote another letter to Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif informing him of Justice (retd) Ahmed's nomination and asking him to either agree with it or present his own nominee by April 6.

"If no response is received within the stipulated time, the appointment of caretaker prime minister will be processed in accordance with the Constitution," the letter reads.

The former CJP's nomination follows a letter written earlier today by President Alvi to the prime minister and Shehbaz to propose names of suitable persons for appointment as caretaker premier under Article 224-A(1 )of the Constitution.

The letter came a day after the NA deputy speaker disallowed a no-trust confidence motion against PM Imran and the president dissolved the lower house of Parliament on the former's advice.

The letter, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, stated that the NA and the federal cabinet had been dissolved under Article 58(1) of the Constitution on Sunday.

The president said that PM Imran would continue to hold office until the caretaker premier's appointment was made under Article 224-A(4) of the Constitution.

Alvi told the two that in case they do not agree on the appointment within three days of the dissolution of the NA, they shall forward two nominees each to a committee to be constituted by the speaker, comprising eight members of the outgoing NA, or the Senate, or both, having equal representation from the treasury and the opposition.

However, the PML-N president declared that he would not take part in the process and termed it "illegal". He said that the president and the prime minister had broken the law and questioned how they could approach the opposition.

Justice Gulzar — the 27th chief justice of Pakistan

Justice Ahmed, who was sworn in as the 27th chief justice of Pakistan on December 21, 2019, was born on February 2, 1957, in Karachi to the family of Noor Muhammad, a distinguished lawyer. He served as the chief justice till February 2022.

His elementary schooling was from the city's Gulistan School, according to the Supreme Court website. He then went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Government National College, Karachi after which he obtained his law degree from S.M. Law College, Karachi.

He enrolled as an advocate on January 18, 1986, and joined the High Court on April 4, 1988. Subsequently, he became an advocate of the Supreme Court on September 15, 2001.

Justice Ahmed was elected honorary secretary of the Sindh High Court Bar Association in Karachi for the year 1999-2000.

Throughout his legal practice, he mostly remained on the civil-corporate side, serving as the legal advisor to numerous multinational and local companies, banks and financial institutions.

Ahmed was elevated as Judge of the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Aug 27, 2002. He was notified as Senior Puisne Judge of the SHC on Feb 14, 2011, and was elevated to Supreme Court later that year on November 16.