Economic Affairs Minister Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was given the additional portfolio of law and justice on Monday, a week after PML-N Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar stepped down from the post.

The Cabinet Division’s notification for Sadiq’s appointment as the new law minister said: “In terms of rule 3(4) of the Rules of Business, 1973, the prime minister has been pleased to allocate the portfolio of law and justice to Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the federal minister for economic affairs, with immediate effect.”

Tarar had tendered his resignation last week, with some television channels reporting that he made the decision citing ‘anti-establishment slogans’ raised at the Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore.

Tarar was the chief guest at the Asma Jahangir Conference where some of the participants had shouted slogans against the establishment during his speech.

Editorial: SC appointments

He was also said to be under immense pressure for casting his vote in favour of some ‘junior judges’, along with Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, who were being elevated to the Supreme Court.