The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday suspended the power of attorney of former Attorney General Irfan Qadir and issued a show-cause notice for the annulment of his license.
The decision comes in the wake of an application moved by Qadir on Wednesday with a request that two members of a three-judge bench should withdraw from the bench in hearing of the controversial armoured personnel carriers (APCs) deal for the Sindh police.
At the last hearing on March 12, the Supreme Court had ordered the Additional Advocate General Sindh Miran Shah to inform it how Irfan Qadir, who had a bitter exchange of words with the bench during the course of hearing, was representing the IG Sindh even though the provincial government was being represented by Senator Farooq Naek.
It also came to the notice of the court that there was no ‘vakalat nama’ (power of attorney) which authorised Qadir to appear in the case. This led the court to observe how and on what basis he had been appearing before it, especially when the record showed that he appeared in 11 hearings – seven in Islamabad and four in Karachi – without any attorney.
It sought an explanation from Qadir for how long the court will ignore such behaviour on part of a senior counsel, adding that the court had a feeling that problematic cases were deliberately given to Qadir only to make mockery of the court.
In response, Qadir filed an application not only seeking recusal of the judges but also stating that the court in its order had framed intriguing questions seeking explanation qua engagement of the counsel in the case.
The apex court stated that instead of providing an explanation, Qadir resorted to spiteful behaviour and revoked his license on Thursday.
Qadir claimed that the court is irked by his representation of the Sindh police. He said that he does not trust Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, one of the three-bench judges, and demanded his recusal from the bench.
He further said that he has done nothing wrong in becoming Sindh government’s lawyer. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Sindh Inspector General of Police Ghulam Haider Jamali are above the authority of a judge and neither can be questioned on their decisions, Qadir asserted.
The Sindh government suffered a severe blow earlier this month when the Supreme Court set aside a Rs 1.23 billion controversial contract for APCs in the wake of the deteriorating law and order situation in Karachi.
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, declared the contract between Sindh police and Messrs Hugo Import Serbia a nullity in law. It also barred the provincial government from disbursing money for the purchase of a helicopter and 86 fire tenders because the deal had been made without adhering to rules.
