PESHAWAR: Six law officers of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Advocate General’s office resigned and three others were de-notified by the provincial government as internal rifts surfaced in Insaaf Lawyers Forum (ILF), the lawyers’ body of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), in the province.

Through two separate notifications, law department on Thursday announced acceptance of resignations of the six officers by chief minister and de-notifying three others by him, respectively.

Those who resigned included additional advocates general Mohammad Inam Khan Yousafzai and Azhar Rahim, and assistant advocates general Fazl-i-Maula, Khanzeb, Wajahat Hussain Shah and Naeem Khan.

Similarly, those who were de-notified under KP Appointment of Law Officers Act, 2014, included an additional advocate general Mohammad Asghar Khan and assistant advocates general Syed Mukhtar Ali Shah and Arbab Ifrahim.

Govt appoints 10 new officers; ILF president denies charges of interfering in AG’s office affairs

Official sources said that those officers were conveyed the decision of chief minister that they should either resign or their services would be dispensed with. Soon after that development, the provincial government notified appointment of 10 new law officers including three additional and six assistant advocates general and an advocate-on-record.

The newly-appointed officers include additional advocates general Alam Khan, Sehrish Munawar and Saifur Rehman, assistant advocates general Abidur Rehman, Shahid Khan, Mohammad Furqan, Yasir Saleem, Mohammad Adnan Sher and Syed Bilal Shafi Andrabi and advocate-on-record Malik Akhter Hussain Awan.

One of the resigned officers, Inam Yousafzai, a known face in PTI as prior to his appointment as AAG in 2024 he had actively been pursuing cases of party leaders and workers, has blamed ILF provincial president for creating misunderstandings between them and the government and also pressurising the government to appoint officers of his choice.

However, ILF president Ali Zaman denied the blame, claiming that he had not interfered into the affairs of AG office. “The provincial government retains the right to appoint law officers of its choice and makes such decisions in its best interest,” he told journalists on the premises of Peshawar High Court.

In their separate resignation letters sent to Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi, the six law officers expressed full confidence in their political leadership. Citing personal and professional reasons for their resignations, they also thanked the provincial law minister and advocate general for their support during their functioning as law officers.

Inam Yousafzai told journalists that he was a loyal follower of PTI founder Imran Khan. He said that he had received full support from the political leadership including party’s chairman Barrister Gohar Ali, Junaid Akber, Sher Ali Arbab, Atif Khan and others.

However, he alleged that ILF provincial president forced the provincial government to demand his resignation.

To a query regarding the involvement of Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan in the matter, Mr Yousafzai said that he had heard that her name was used by ILF president to pressurise the government. “Aleema Bibi is an innocent woman and she might have been misguided so as to pressurise the government for replacing the law officers,” he said.

He said that neither any general body meeting of the forum was held on the issue, nor its cabinet was taken into confidence whereas the decisions had been made by a single individual.

Mr Yousafzai has also served as special prosecutor in different cases related to May 9 and 10, 2023, violence in the province. He stated that he had been under pressure for the past three months while keeping the political leadership informed of the situation, but ultimately decided to resign in the party’s best interest.

He said that it was unfortunate that an unauthorised individual was currently running the Advocate General office and dictating all decisions.

Despite this, he reaffirmed that he would not leave PTI, as he considered himself a soldier of the party’s founder, but emphasised that he would continue to speak out. He asserted that he had worked with transparency and on merit in line with Imran Khan’s vision, calling on the party founder to take notice of those matters and act against elements creating divisions.

ILF provincial president Ali Zaman refuted allegations against him, terming the same as baseless. He also denied reports of involvement of Aleema Khan in the issue. “Aleema Apa neither interferes in affairs of provincial government nor that of ILF. Those levelling such allegations should be ashamed of themselves,” he added.

He dispelled the impression of abusing his position or blackmailing anyone. He said that seeking contribution to party funds was a standard practice done during rallies or party events rather than on a monthly basis.

He stated that the provincial government had requested new recommendations for law officers in AG office, which were provided by him around three months ago based strictly on merit. He added that he had not sought any favour from those whom he had recommended for appointment as law officers.

He warned that disciplinary action would be taken against those making false allegations if they failed to provide proof.

It is pertinent to mention that following assuming power in the province after the 2024 general elections, the KP government had appointed around 60 law officers, almost all of whom were ILF members.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2026