Shehzad Elahi clarifies he was not asked to quit as AGP.
Barrister Shehzad Ata Elahi on Saturday clarified that it was 'absolutely incorrect' that he was asked to resign as Attorney-General for Pakistan a day after the media reported he had quit the top law office.
In a clarification sent to Dawn.com, Barrister Elahi confirmed that he had resigned, but rejected reports that he was asked to resign.
The timing of his resignation - just a little over a month after he was appointed - is significant as it comes ahead of a looming legal battle on the delayed elections in Punjab in the Supreme Court, when it is eventually taken up by the PTI.
Soon after reports of Elahi's departure made the rounds yesterday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif went into a huddle with legal experts to discuss their strategy on the delayed elections in Punjab. The meeting, which was held in Model Town, was attended by federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, PM's special assistants Attaullah Tarar and Malik Ahmad Khan. Elahi was conspicious in his absence.
Elahi, sharing a copy of his resignation, told Dawn.com that he signed his resignation on Friday March 24th, which he 'was sending to the President on the same day'.
He added: 'It is absolutely incorrect that I was asked to resign. In fact when I communicated my intention to resign to senior members of the Government I was requested to defer sending the resignation to the President and at their request I handed the original resignation over to a senior minister. The government may send it to the President at their convenience.'
He said that 'unfortunately some facts were selectively leaked in media yesterday' and while he avoided engaging with the numerous reporters and media channels who contacted him repeatedly, a 'distorted narrative is being created which is why I am now constrained to send this clarification'.
Sources claimed to Dawn that the reason behind his sudden resignation was that the government did not have a 'comfortable correlation' with the AGP and considered him someone who had been enforced upon them.
According to sources, the March 22 notification of ECP postponing the Punjab Assembly polls made the highest office the most uncomfortable seat since Elahi as AGP had to defend executive's decisions before the judiciary.
'The PM's huddle fully supported the ECP's decision and resolved to hold the general elections of all assemblies simultaneously,' a PML-N source told Dawn.
The meeting discussed the government's strategy to defend the ECP's decision and its...
To continue reading
Request your trial