A senior attorney has filed a complaint with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) accusing Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar of continuing to hold a position on the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) despite taking the oath of office as a federal minister.
In his petition, attorney Pervaiz Inayat Malik—who served as a PBC member from 2008 to 2009—raised various legal issues regarding Mr. Tarar’s dual office-holding.
He argued that this went against the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dr. Mubashir Hassan case and that, as a federal minister, Mr. Tarar could not register as a practicing lawyer with the PBC since he could not represent himself in court.
Petitioner seeks direction to AG to de-notify Tarar as PBC member
The petition further emphasized that it is against Rule 108-O of the Rule of 1976 for the PBC to hold office while serving as a federal minister.
According to this rule, “an advocate bearing his name on the Roll of a Bar Council shall request to the later for the suspension of his certificate because he plans to join some other profession, business, service, or vacation.”
The petitioner requested that the court order the attorney general to stop notifying Mr. Tarar as a member of the PBC.
The petition also asked the court to prevent the law minister from carrying out his PBC member duties.
