The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday reinstated former attorney general Irfan Qadir’s licence after it was suspended four years ago.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa stated in the judgement that there was no instance of contempt of court while no one appeared in court on behalf of the prosecution. He added that the court did not receive any pending applications in the case.
Justice Khosa welcomed Qadir back into the legal fraternity after passing the judgement and said he hoped the ex-AGP would have a good relationship with the bench.
Qadir while talking to media expressed his gratitude towards the Chief Justice who vindicated him after four years.
He added that this is the first honourable acquittal by SC, stating that earlier lawyers such as Babar Awan tendered unconditional apologies to be cleared to practice.
An apex court bench, led by former CJ Khawaja, had suspended Qadir’s practicing licence on March 26, 2015.
Qadir remained critical of former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and was removed from the position of Lahore High Court judge along with other judges in a July 31, 2009 verdict.
Later, he was removed from the prosecutor general post in the National Accountability Bureau by a three-judge bench led by Chaudhry. During the Pakistan Peoples Party regime, Qadir was appointed as AGP but his relationship with the bench under Iftikhar remained tense.
Published in Daily Times, February 8th 2019.
