Anwar Mansoor Khan resigns as AGP.

ISLAMABAD -- Anwar Mansoor Khan resigned as the attorney general of Pakistan on Thursday.

The resignation comes after the Pakistan Bar Council demanded Khan's resignation following his contemptuous comments regarding a full-court bench hearing Justice Qazi Faez Isa's case against the presidential reference.

In a letter addressed to President Dr Arif Alvi, Khan said he was a life-time member of the Karachi, Sindh and Supreme Court bar associations and wanted to 'reaffirm faith in the highest principles of integrity and professional excellence that the Pakistan Bar Council has always stood for'.

'Accordingly, I hereby resign from the position of the Attorney-General for Pakistan and request you to accept it with immediate effect,' he wrote.

'In the last year-and-a-half, I worked to the best of my ability to serve this solemn office with honesty of purpose, and commitment to upholding the Constitution,' he added in the resignation submitted to the president.

But a source confirmed to The Express Tribune that Khan was forced to resign by the federal government.

AGP questions Justice Isa's stance

'Totally uncalled for'

Meanwhile, the federal government also distanced itself from Khan's statements and asserted that the comments were totally uncalled for, unauthorised, without instructions and knowledge of the federal government.

Emphasising that the federal government and the law ministry held the superior judiciary in 'highest respect and esteem,' the respondents dissociated themselves from Khan's statement.

'The federal government and answering respondents verily believe in the rule of law, constitutionalism and the independence of judiciary,' said the response submitted before the apex court.

AGP

Replacement

The Express Tribune has learnt that the federal government was already considering replacing the attorney general.

A senior PTI lawyer told The Express Tribune that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was looking for a new chief legal officer but could not find a better option.

Renowned lawyer Makhdoom Ali Khan has already turned down the offer to take over the position while Naeem Bukhari is 'uninterested'. However, the federal government...