ISLAMABAD: A constitutional crisis looms in the federal capital as the government led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is going to appoint a new advocate general (AG) for Islamabad.

Sources privy to the development told Dawn that the government had concluded the headhunt and sent a summary for appointment of Barrister Jahangir Khan Jadoon as the new AG for the capital territory.

After formal approval of the federal cabinet, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will advise President Arif Alvi for issuing an order for the appointment.

Sources said the PML-N government had considered the names of senior lawyers Rashid Hafeez and Siddique Awan for the post as well.

The successful candidate will replace Niazullah Khan Niazi who was appointed as the advocate general in 2019 by the then PTI government.

However, the sources said to get an advocate general of its choice may not be easy for the government for certain reasons.

According to the PTI sources, the appointment of Mr Niazi was made under the presidential order of 2015.

Article 2 and 5 of the President’s Order No 1 of 2015 says: “There shall be an Advocate-General forIslamabadCapitalTerritorywho shall be appointed by the President.

“Tenure: The Advocate-General shall hold the office during the pleasure of the president and shall not engage in private practice so long as he holds the office of the Advocate-General.”

A senior lawyer of PTI said under Article 2 and 5 of the President’s Order No 1, the power to appoint and remove the advocate general ICT vests only in the president.

He said that it was the settled law that there was a distinction between constitutional functions and the statutory power of the president and only where the president performs his constitutional functions, he is bound by the advice of the cabinet or the prime minister under Article 48 (1) of the Constitution. He said since the appointment of the advocate general had been made through a presidential order, the PM’s advice was not binding on the president.

Legal expert Mohammad Akram Sheikh, on the other hand, said that the president as per Article 48 was bound to act upon the advice of the prime minister and there would be no excuse.

Barrister Zaffarullah Khan, who headed the law ministry during the previous PML-N government, said the president’s portfolio was ceremonial and it did not enjoy any discretionary power to undo collective decisions of the federal cabinet and the prime minister.

He said that the PTI interprets the law in accordance with its own design and to create confusion just to delay the legal course.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2022