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ISLAMABAD: After a four-month hiatus, the federal government finally on Thursday appointed Barrister Shehzad Ata Elahi, a young lawyer from Lahore, as the 37th Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP).
After the resignation of former AGP Ashtar Ausaf Ali in October and the disinterest shown by Mansoor Usman Awan, the name of Shehzad Elahi had been making the rounds for quite some time for appointment as the country’s top law officer.
Barrister Elahi is a grandson of former president Fazal Elahi Chaudhry, who served as the country’s head of state from 1973 to 1978. He confirmed to Dawn on Thursday that he had been appointed to the top office.
Barrister Elahi works for Cornelius, Lane & Mufti, a law firm in which distinguished lawyers Hamid Khan and Salman Aslam Butt were partners.
The federal government had earlier picked Mansoor Usman Awan, also from Lahore, for the job, but he expressed his inability by writing a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Jan 19. Although Mansoor Usman’s nomination was approved by President Arif Alvi on Dec 23, the government did not issue a notification to confirm his appointment even after a lapse of 25 days.
Barrister Elahi is a corporate lawyer and well versed in commercial, tax and banking laws, constitutional litigation and cross-border transactions, including those related to Islamic finance and project finance.
Born on March 24, 1977, Barrister Elahi attended King’s College London from 1996 to 1999. After getting an LL.B. (Hons) degree, he was enrolled as a high court lawyer in 2003 and as a Supreme Court lawyer in 2015.
He appeared as amicus curiae in cases demanding interpretation of domestic and international laws, and treaties related to repatriation of convicted offenders from abroad.
He has also handled cases related to dual nationality of judges, officials of the judiciary and government employees.
Shehzad Elahi has appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court in cases involving interpretation of the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution vis-a-vis taxation by the National Assembly and provincial legislatures on activities of distributors.
He represented the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association in cases involving constitutionality and legality of the Sugar Inquiry Commission constituted by the federal government under the Pakistan Commissions of Inquiry Act, 2017.
The absence of any officer to represent the AGP caught the attention of the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court last month.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court had even authored an order stating that the AGP was a constitutional post and it cannot be left vacant since there was no mention of an acting AGP in the Constitution.
Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2023
