Govt takes flak, again, over delay in naming AGP.

ISLAMABAD -- The Supreme Court again expressed displeasure on Monday over the government's inability to fill the office of the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP).

The position has been vacant since October following the resignation of Ashtar Ausaf Ali due to health reasons.

The issue cropped up again when a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, asked Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Ayaz Shaukat to assist it in a case related to the Customs department, but it turned out that the DAG was not well versed in the matter.

Furthermore, the DAG had no answer about reasons for delay in the appointment of an AGP.

This prompted Justice Isa to quip that it appeared the court had come up with a very difficult constitutional question.

The government had named Mansoor Usman Awan as the 37th AGP on Dec 23 after President Dr Arif Alvi approved its proposal.

But even an announcement from the President House was, seemingly, not enough to fill the position of the highest law officer of the land.

No notification was issued by the law ministry and the indecisiveness on the government's part eventually forced Mansoor Awan to write to the prime minister expressing his inability to serve in the office.

Justice Isa observed during Monday's hearing that keeping the AGP's...