Senior lawyer Shahzad Shaukat appointed Punjab advocate general

Punjab Governor Balighur Rehman on Wednesday appointed senior lawyer Shahzad Shaukat as the advocate general of the province a day after Ahmad Awais tendered his resignation as AGP.

"The Governor of Punjab is pleased to appoint Mr Shahzad Shaukat, Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan, as Advocate General Punjab, with immediate effect in public interest on terms and conditions," a notification issued by the province's Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department said.

In another notification, the government passed orders to remove Awais "with immediate effect".

According to a Dawn report, the Punjab government had earlier restrained Awais from appearing before courts on its behalf and assigned the responsibility of the office to Additional Advocate General Jawwad Yaqoob.

It had also sent a summary to the chief minister for the removal of the advocate general.

Meanwhile, Awais had refused to quit the office and also approached the Lahore High Court against the provincial government for stopping him from working. His stance was that the office of advocate general is a constitutional post and he was supposed to hold office at the pleasure of the governor.

The summary was, however, pending for final approval as the office of the governor had been vacant after the removal of Omar Sarfraz Cheema by the Cabinet Division.

Hence, when on May 31 President Arif Alvi approved the appointment of PML-N loyalist Balighur Rehman as the new Punjab governor, Awais tendered his resignation.