The Punjab chief minister has directed the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) to give Punjab Advocate General Khawaja Haris protocol “equivalent to ministers”, while the office of the AG has been made a “special institution” of the Punjab Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Sources privy to the development said that the S&GAD issued a notification on instruction of the CM to give Haris the said protocol, while a notification to make the office of the advocate general a special institution is likely to be issued in a few days, as the cabinet has already approved the move.
They said that office of the AG is an attached department of the Punjab Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department and according to the Rules of Business, it will have to be amended to make office of the AG a special institution such as the Punjab Assembly (PA)—the only other special institution of the law department. According to sources, the move has also been taken on a proposal floated by Haris himself.
A senior government official, seeking anonymity, said that the post of the AG is a constitutional post under Article 140 of the constitution appointed by the governor on recommendation of the chief minister. Sources said that the CM’s directions, “In all official meetings and functions the advocate general be given the protocol equivalent to provincial ministers” implies that the AG will enjoy a bigger protocol than the head of provincial bureaucracy, the chief secretary in official business. They revealed that the AG has also demanded administrative secretaries that all correspondence with him should be routed through the law department.
Sources said that Haris has remained the family lawyer of the Sharifs handling important cases and the “exceptional” notification came due to his “closeness” with the CM. The move has also created a lot of resentment in the bureaucratic circles, while senior officers have termed the move “disheartening”. “When the office of the AG, previously an attached department of the law department with secretary law being its administrative head, will enjoy protocols bigger than the chief secretary, it is natural for officers to feel demoralised,” a senior officer, seeking anonymity, said adding, “The AG even demanded that the secretary concerned should be present with him in the court also, leaving no time for them to complete departmental business. The move has been halted and now secretaries will only work on draft of court cases”.
