–LHC also moved against Asma’s appointment
LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday asked nominated interim Punjab chief minister Nasir Saeed Khosa and the chief election commissioner (CEC) to annul the appointment of Asma Hamid as Advocate General of Punjab.
The PTI, in a letter written to the caretaker Punjab CM and CEC, said that Asma Hamid was given the post because of her “cordial ties with the Sharif family”.
The Imran Khan-led party has maintained that the appointment wasn’t made on merit but on favouritism.
Hamid’s appointment was done hours before the end of Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif’s tenure and followed an ambiguous procedure, the letter said.
The party said the appointment is a hasty decision amid preparations for the July general elections.
Meanwhile, Lahore High Court (LHC) also received a petition demanding that Asma Hamid’s appointment as the advocate general of Punjab be nullified.
The petition, submitted by Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffri, argued that Hamid’s appointment was not based on merit and she had been promoted out of turn shortly before the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly.
According to the petition, Hamid’s appointment was based on “political affiliations” and thus should be declared void.
On Monday, the Punjab government had approved a summary to pave the way for Asma Hamid to become the new Advocate General (AG) of Punjab. This will be the first time that the important constitutional post will be held by a woman.
Shehbaz Sharif approved the summary to give a go-ahead to the appointment of Asma, who would replace Shakilur Rehman.
Asma Hamid has a post-graduate degree in constitutional law from Harvard University and was appointed as Assistant Advocate General in January 2014, and as Additional Advocate General in March 2015. In addition, she had also assumed the charge of acting Advocate General on two occasions in the past. She had also represented Punjab in many cases in the Lahore High Court and the Supreme Court.
Asma had also saved hundreds of acres of state land, especially in the ‘Province of Punjab vs Syed Ghazanfar Ali Shah’, where she won the case in the apex court and secured 117 acres of forest land in Sheikhupura from illegal occupants.
She also played an instrumental role in regulating the cement industry in 2017. Due to her action, the Punjab government had placed a ban on the establishment and expansion of the industry without seeking prior permission from a relevant cabinet committee.
After the case, cement plants were ordered to stop utilising groundwater in Chakwal in a period of six months and to ensure that the level of holy water in the sacred pool of the Hindu pilgrimage site at Katas Raj temple remained at an acceptable level.
Asma also assisted the apex court in many human rights cases, including the famous Zainab rape and murder case in Kasur. In addition, she had also advised the Punjab CM on different issues, including energy, property, environment, media, tax, state and evacuee property, service, contract and other laws.