PESHAWAR, June 5: The NWFP governor on Saturday appointed Hamid Farooq Durrani the province’s advocate-general.

The post had been lying vacant since Jan 3 when the incumbent Barrister, Jehanzeb Raheem, was elevated as judge of the Peshawar High Court.

The governor appointed Mr Durrani under article 140 of the constitution. The law department has issued a notification in this regard.

Mr Durrani had up to now been serving as deputy attorney-general for Pakistan since October 2001. Prior to this, he had served as additional advocate-general for a brief period. He is son of a former judge of the high court, Justice Kareemullah Durrani.

In the legal circles, Mr Durrani is considered a competent lawyer who has successfully defended the federal government in various cases during his tenure as deputy attorney-general.

A tug-of-war was going on between the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s provincial government and former governor Iftikhar Hussain Shah over appointment on the post, with the alliance pressing for its man to be given the job.

It is learnt that Mr Shah had declined to appoint a nominee of the religious parties’ alliance as advocate general, saying that the principal law officer of the province should be a competent advocate who could defend the provincial government in various important cases before the high court and the Supreme Court.

Last year, various lawyers believed to be attached with the MMA were appointed as additional and deputy advocates-general.

Before the naming of Jehanzeb Raheem as advocate-general, various candidates had been vying for the post. However, Governor Khalilur Rehman followed the policy of his predecessor by appointing a non-political person.