ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Federal Minister for Law Barrister Farogh Naseem has voluntarily tendered his resignation.
While addressing a Press Conference along with the Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and the Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that Farogh Naseem voluntarily resigned and he would appear before the Supreme Court of Pakistan tomorrow as a Counsel of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
کابینہ اور اتحادیوں نے آرمی چیف کی توسیع کے فیصلے کی حمایت کی ہے.کابینہ نے جنرل قمر جاوید باجوہ کی توسیع کو موجودہ حالات کا تقاضہ قرار دیا.وزیر قانون فروغ نسیم مستعفی ہو گئے ہیں.فروغ نسیم آرمی چیف کی طرف سے کل سپریم کورٹ میں پیش ہوں گے.
1/2 pic.twitter.com/iP9X6JEabJ— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) November 26, 2019
His resignation came after the Supreme Court’s three-member bench headed by the Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa suspended the notification issued on August 19 to grant a three-year extension to the tenure of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
Shahzad Akbar told media persons that Farogh Naseem cannot appear in the Court as a lawyer while being a federal minister; therefore, he resigned and now he would appear before the bench along with the Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan for the hearing related to the extension of the COAS.
Also Read: Supreme Court Suspends Notification of General Bajwa’s extension as Army Chief
The Special Assistant on Accountability also dismissed media reports of a rebuke which Farogh Naseem allegedly faced in the Federal Cabinet meeting, and said that rather the entire Cabinet appreciated him and honoured his decision.
وزیراعظم عمران خان نےوزیر قانون کا استعفیٰ قبول کر لیا ہے.میڈیا میں فروغ نسیم کے استعفے سے متعلق غلط تاثر دیا گیا.کابینہ ارکان نے فروغ نسیم کی خدمات کو خراج تحسین پیش کیا:شیخ رشید احمد
2/2 pic.twitter.com/DSi31wfslR— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) November 26, 2019
Shahzad Akbar said that once the case is disposed off, Farogh Naseem can return to the Cabinet.
Earlier the Federal Cabinet approved a fresh summary of Army Chief’s tenure extension with an amendment in the Defence Act, and forwarded it to President Dr Arif Alvi.