Hanif Abbasi resigns as SAPM after IHC remarks

ISLAMABAD: Following the Islamabad High Court (IHC) remarks that a person convicted in any case is ineligible to hold any public office in the country, PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi tendered his resignation as special assistant to the prime minister Thursday.

Talking to journalists, Hanif Abbasi confirmed the reports about his resignation and thanked Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for entrusting him with the responsibility.

It is pertinent to mention here that IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, on May 17, had remarked that being a convict he is not entitled to hold the public office.

During the course of the proceedings, Abbasi's counsel Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon had argued that the post of special assistant to the prime minister is not similar to the other public offices.

At this, the court had said that the special assistant's job is to advise the prime minister, adding that a person can give his advice to the premier without notification as well.

Earlier, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah had issued a notice to the Cabinet Division directing the premier to review the decision following which a summary was sent to PM Shehbaz to review the appointment of  Abbasi as his special assistant.

On May 6, former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed challenged a notification over the appointment of PML-N’s Abbasi as a SAPM.

According to the petition, Abbasi has been convicted in an ephedrine quota case against which an appeal regarding his sentence is pending in the Lahore High Court. The petitioner said that a convicted person cannot be appointed as the SAPM.