ISLAMABAD – PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi on Thursday resigned as a special assistant to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after controversy erupted over his appointment.
Abbasi also thanked PM Shehbaz Sharif for instilling confidence in him.
The development comes around two weeks after the Islamabad High Court barred from working as special assistant to PM due to his conviction in ephedrine quota case.
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah issued the ruling on a petition submitted by former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed challenging the notification regarding the appointment of Abbasi as SAPM.
The petitioner argued that the PML-N leader has been convicted in ephedrine quota case and an his appeal against the sentence is pending in the Lahore High Court. He added that a convicted person cannot be appointed as the SAPM, which is a public office.
Abbasi’s lawyer Ahsan Bhoon in his counter arguments said that SAPM was not a public office. He requested the court to not stop his client for working as PM’s aide.
To which, the IHC chief justice said that a convicted person cannot hold a public office, adding that Abbasi can give advices to the prime minister without holding an position.
IHC CJ asks PM Shehbaz to review Hanif Abbasi’s appointment as SAPM
