Presidency has no knowledge of "his" Attorney General’s dismissal

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Tariq Butt

ISLAMABAD: The abrupt sacking of Attorney General Latif Khosa has surprised the presidency as it had no knowledge of the late night move. However, Khosa’s son claims that his father is still holding the post.

The spokesman for the prime minister, Imran Gardezi, however, told The News that Khosa was no longer the AG and his portfolio as adviser to the PM would be announced through an official notification in a day or so.

The presidency was surprised over the report that PM Gilani had made Khosa his adviser and was looking for a new attorney general. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar has no knowledge as to what has happened to Khosa. However, when approached, he said President Asif Ali Zardari had not received the attorney general’s resignation.

He pointed to Article 100 of the Constitution to emphasise that it was the president who shall nominate a person, qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, to be the attorney general.

Despite repeated calls to his two cell numbers, Latif Khosa was not available for comments. Babar said he too was trying to contact the attorney general to know the story. However, Khosa’s son, Khurram, also a lawyer, told The News that his father continues to be the attorney general. He said Khosa did not quit the office nor he had been made an adviser to the prime minister.

“Till this moment, there has been no de-notification of Latif Khosa as attorney general,” he said. Khurram said it was the president who was the appointing and removing authority in the case of the attorney general, and Zardari had not asked Khosa to step down.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=24971