ISLAMABAD: After the resignation of the attorney general, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) on Saturday urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to “expel” Law Minister Farogh Naseem from the federal cabinet in the “larger national interest” after the controversy over remarks by former attorney general Anwar Mansoor Khan against Supreme Court judges.
Mansoor Khan had resigned as attorney general on Thursday at the PBC’s demand for levelling allegations against some members of the Supreme Court bench hearing petitions challenging the filing of a presidential reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
Following his resignation, Khan had said the government knew about the remarks he was going to make in the SC that eventually cost him his job as the country’s top law officer.
On the other hand, Naseem had denied having prior knowledge about the former attorney general’s intention to make those remarks.
n a statement, PBC Vice-Chairman Abid Saqi said: “Submitting to the demand of the PBC and the legal fraternity, Khan’s decision to resign […], withdraw his controversial and uncalled for statement made on Feb 18 during the hearing of Justice Isa’s case […], and tendering an apology to the apex court, are welcome and appreciable steps.”
The PBC statement maintained that after statements made by the former attorney general in the media explaining that the government was fully aware of his remarks is “gravely alarming and reflects the nefarious designs of the government to bow down the judiciary”.
The PBC also called for a probe against the law minister by a judicial commission, calling Naseem to be the “mastermind of a conspiracy against the judiciary”.
“Needless to add that his past amply reflects that instead of believing in the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, democracy and civil authority through the democratic process, he always takes pride to support and serve the undemocratic forces in power,” the statement read.
