ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court on Tuesday refused the repeated appeal by the Additional Attorney General K.K Agha to allow Dr Khalid Ranjha to counsel the case for federation in place of Kamal Azfar, and adjourned the hearing till April 14, a Private Channel reported.
Agha argued that it was the constitutional right of every citizen to hire any advocate.
Court’s decision prompted the government to plea for the review, he added.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to accept the government`s fresh request to change its counsel but as a concession postponed to Tuesday the hearing of a petition seeking review of a court verdict which held the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) illegal.
“In the interest of justice we adjourn the proceedings for April 12,” a 17-judge full court said on Monday in its order, but cited a number of case examples to emphasise that except for unavoidable circumstances requests to change the counsel in review petitions were never granted. Court rules make it mandatory that a lawyer who argues the main case pleads the review petition.
Senior counsel Kamal Azfar, who appeared on the court`s directive, sought the adjournment and said that despite his efforts he could not contact the law ministry to get fresh instructions on the matter.
“I have already informed the law ministry that I will not represent the federation in this case,” Mr Azfar said, adding that he had already returned the brief and welcomed the appointment of Advocate Dr Khalid Ranjha as the counsel for the federation in place of Sardar Latif Khosa.
