Islamabad: A day after submitting his resignation, former attorney general of Pakistan, Anwar Mansoor Khan, on Friday submitted unconditional apology before a full bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan hearing different petitions challenging a presidential reference against Supreme Court judge Qazi Faez Isa.
Justice Umar Ata Bandial, who is presiding over the 10-member bench, had directed Mansoor Khan to either provide documentary evidence in support of his accusations or tender apology.
The court had also restricted media to report those serious accusations in print or electronic media.
After the court’s order, the federal government also jumped into action and submitted a reply before the court that Mansoor Khan had made those remarks without the government’s knowledge and prior permission.
The difference between the government’s law minister and the attorney general led to the latter’s resignation on Thursday and an unending debate started on media whether he submitted his resignation owing to his differences with Law Minister Farogh Naseem or it was because of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) that had demanded his resignation.
While the law minister and Prime Minister’s Special Assistance on Accountability Barrister Shahzad Akbar claimed the government had asked Mansoor Khan to step down for making controversial remarks, Mansoor Khan insisted he submitted his resignation on the demand of the PBC of which he was the chairman.
After submitting resignation, Mansoor Khan reiterated the federal government was well aware of what he was going to say before the august bench.
“I have submitted my resignation on the demand of the Pakistan Bar Council and I didn’t inform any government official, not even the Prime Minister of Pakistan about my resignation,” he said.
“Whatever I said about the judges was the government’s opinion about them and I was briefed by the government prior to my appearance before the Supreme Court full bench,” he said.
