PESHAWAR, Oct 22: The inordinate delay in filling of six vacant posts of additional and deputy advocate generals by the provincial government has left the office of advocate general, NWFP, in a crisis situation.

The matter has further been delayed with the recent induction of Qazi Rasheedul Haq in place of Younas Tanoli as advocate general. The government is now consulting the former for filling the posts in question.

The previous AG had taken up the issue with the government as he was facing handicap in dealing with the ever-increasing cases in the high court.

It is learnt that the present incumbent has now replaced certain names in the recommendations put forward by his predecessor.

Certain figures representing different political groups have also been trying to book a berth for themselves, a source confided to Dawn.

A key figure in the federal government has been trying to induct a lawyer of Tehrik-i-Istiqlal as additional advocate general, the source said. Names of a female lawyer and a member of the NWFP Bar Council have also been included in the recommendations, the source added.

Apart from Qazi Rasheed, only an additional advocate general, Imtiaz Ahmad, and a deputy advocate general, Tariq Jawed, have been performing their functions. Three posts of additional and three posts of deputy advocate generals have been lying vacant.

Previously, the advocate general used to nominate his team with the approval of the provincial government, but this time the Law Department has changed the procedure for appointments, which has created complications.

It is learnt that before the summer vacations the previous procedure of filling these seats was changed and a committee was constituted for selecting suitable persons for the posts from amongst the lawyers. Various names were put forward by that committee but even those recommendations were not given any consideration. Later on, as the summer vacations were approaching the government decided to postpone the matter till the opening of courts.

In a majority of the writ petitions filed in the high court the provincial government or any of its department is made party, one way or the other, due to which any law officer of the AG’s office has to appear in those petitions. It is impossible for the advocate general and three additional and deputy advocate generals to appear before each and every court.

This scarcity of officers has also been affecting the performance of the existing officers as they are often not able to fully assist the court due to the workload.