LAHORE (92 News) – Advocate General (AG) Punjab Ahmad Awais on Wednesday resigned from his post.
A three-member bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday reserved its verdict in Advocate General Punjab contempt of court case.
Meanwhile, the hearing was adjourned till the April 19.
Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar reached Lahore High Court (LHC) after being summoned by the court in contempt case against Advocate General Punjab Ahmed Awais.
Provincial law minister, chief secretary and the law secretary were also accompanied with the chief minister. He informed the court that the AGP has resigned from his designation.
During the hearing, “Do you informed why you have been summoned in the court”, Justice Qasim Khan asked the chief minister. He also remarked that the advocate general considered as the first chief minister of the province. “What is happening here,” he asked.
“I am also a lawyer and respect the court,” Chief Minister Buzdar told the court. ” I had call the Advocate General Punjab and he has offered to tender his resignation,” the chief minister told the bench.
The Punjab chief minister assured to the court that this would be never happened again in next time.
AGP gets second chance to defend contempt allegations
Earlier, a full bench of LHC gave a second opportunity to the AGP to submit a comprehensive reply to a show cause notice issued to him under the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2002. The court reminded the AGP that he was only required to submit three lines in his response.
The alleged contemptuous conduct of the AGP’s was witnessed during the announcement of an interim court order which suspended the notification of a joint investigation team (JIT), formed by the government, for a fresh probe into the 2014 Model Town incident.
The bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan, did not seem satisfied over the replies submitted by AGP Ahmed Awais on April 4 and April 5. The bench fixed April 11 as the submission date for a detailed reply.
LHC orders AGP to submit unconditional apology
Advocate Hamid Ali Khan, representing AGP Awais, pleaded with the court that his client had a lot of respect of the judiciary and would never do anything to disrespect the courts.
He requested the court to put an end of the matter. To this, Justice Aalia Neelum remarked the judges also wanted to resolve the matter, but they had been told on Thursday that Hamid Khan would outline the difference between being loud and shouting.
The AGP allegedly yelled in the court when the bench, on March 22, with a majority view of two to one judges, suspended the operation of an impugned notification of the Punjab government. Under the notification, a new JIT had been formed for a fresh probe into the 2014 Model Town massacre. The notification was suspended until a final decision on the main writ petition of the case.
