‘Law minister and I are equals,’ says Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan
Statesman Report
ISLAMABAD: Newly appointed Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan on Wednesday said that he and the law minister “are equals” and that he would have a good working relationship with the government.
In an informal conversation with reporters at the Supreme Court, the attorney general also said that the “autonomy of [his] office” is his foremost concern.
The remarks come after the attorney general wrote a letter to Minister of Law and Justice Farogh Nasim, seeking an explanation over reports that the government was trying to appoint a number of law officers without the new attorney general’s consent and that a number of lawyers from different cities had been approached by the law division to immediately submit their CVs so that the suitable candidates among them are appointed to fill the vacancies.
“The law minister and I are equals. We have a very good working relationship and I wrote the letter to the law minister for the clarification of the news item,” Jawed said.
He also said that he recused himself from the Justice Qazi Faez Isa reference case because he had earlier been approached to defend the judge’s case.
The attorney general stressed that he has no political affiliation with anyone. “It was my father who was associated with politics. Even if Bhutto or Musharraf’s case came in front of me, [I] will argue them with utmost honesty,” he said.
“Maybe the prime minister nominated me because I am a professional. The judiciary has the same expectation [of honesty] from me as the prime minister does.”
He added that he will try to establish the office of the attorney general according to the Constitution of Pakistan. “The prime minister has given me full freedom and assured me of his full support,” Jawed told reporters.
The attorney general also said that his first priority will be cases concerning national security and state revenue and that he will try to control the damage from the Reko Diq case. He said that the government aims to get a stay order issued against the over $6 billion fine imposed on Pakistan.