LAHORE: A writ petition has been moved to the Lahore High Court challenging appointment of additional advocate general Asma Hamid as Advocate General Punjab.

Barrister Javed Iqbal Jafree has filed the petition, saying that Asma Hamid was appointed as principal law officer of Punjab in violation of merit. He alleged that she was appointed on political basis and many senior law officers were ignored to fill the post.

The lawyer pointed out that there was no mechanism to fill the constitutional post of Advocate General Punjab. He asked the court to set aside the appointment of Asma Hamid as AGP for being on political grounds.

On other hand, the Punjab government had issued notification of Asma’s appointment as AGP. She is the first woman who has been appointed as the principal law officer of the province after Shakilur Rehman Khan resigned from the office on Saturday evening because of ending constitutional term of the provincial government on May 31st.

The convention is that every interim government appoints AGP of its own choice. Perhaps this was the reason that Shakil-ur-Rehman Khan resigned as Advocate General Punjab on Saturday and called on the Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a farewell gathering held at Model Town office on Monday evening.

Asma was appointed as assistant AG in January 2014 and later elevated as additional AG on Feb 18, 2015.  She got an LL.B degree from the University of Punjab and an LLM in Constitutional Law from Harvard Law School, USA. She was born on May 21, 1973 and just eight days ago on May 21 she turned 45 – the  prescribed age limit to hold the post of Advocate General Punjab.

It is second time that Asma has been chosen for the post of Advocate General Punjab as two years ago in January, 2016; she was notified to represent the office of the principal law officer in meetings with the chief minister or any other department.