ISLAMABAD: In its first year in the government, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) bestowed a favour of Rs 12.673 million on the party’s jiyala lawyers by making illegal appointments of federal counsels on retainership, Pakistan Today learnt on Sunday.
An official document available with Pakistan Today indicates that the Law and Justice Division paid Rs 12.673 million on account of monthly reatainership fee to federal counsels during the financial year 2008-09.
The document says the appointments were made illegally.
“The appointments of the deputy attorney generals and standing counsels are made by the president under the authority of the Central Law Officers Ordinance 1970 whereas no such ordinance/act/rule provide for the appointments of federal counsels on a retainership of Rs 50,000 per month,” the document states.
The official papers says a total Rs 18.99 million was paid in the years 2006-07, 2007-08 and 2008-09 to the federal counsels. “In the financial year 2006-07, Rs 2.437 million were paid to federal counsels while the amount paid in 2007-08 was Rs 3.882 million,” it reveals.
It shows that a total Rs 6.319 million was paid to lawyers by appointing them federal counsels illegally during Pervez Musharraf’s regime in 2006-07 and 2007-08. But, the PPP defeated a dictator in cronyism as in its first year of rule, it paid Rs 12.673 million to party jiyalas by illegal appointments of federal counsels.
The document says the appointments of the federal counsels on monthly retainership basis was not covered under any law and no procedure and criteria such as age limit, qualifications, quota etc. were framed. “The appointments were made without any assessment of workload and despite the fact that one attorney general, 32 deputy attorney generals and 26 standing counsels and panel advocates were also available in the Law and Justice Division for conducting cases by or against the federal government,” the document says.
It points out that 26 advocates were not assigned any case since their appointment and the amount Rs 9,899,258 paid from public exchequer to those federal counsels was ‘wasteful’ expenditure.
