Irfan Qadir (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and the current Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Legal Reforms since 15 December 2022. He previously served as the 29th

Attorney-General for Pakistan The Attorney-General for Pakistan is the chief law officer and legal advisor of the Government of Pakistan and enjoys rights of audience before Parliament. The Attorney-General, who serves as Pakistan's public prosecutor, is nominated by the Prime ...

from April 2012 to June 2013. He also served as a judge of

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab (Pakistan). The High Court's principal seat is in Lahore, but there are benches in th ...

in 2009. Irfan previously served as Secretary of Ministry of Law, Justice and

Parliamentary Affairs ''Parliamentary Affairs'' is a British peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal. Founded in 1947, it focuses on the government and politics of the United Kingdom, and also covers parliamentary systems across the world. It is published by the Oxf ...

in 2012, twice as Additional Advocate General of Punjab from 1990 to 1995 and 1996 to 1997, and as

Prosecutor General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

of the province Punjab in 2010.

Early life and education

Irfan was born in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, and the son of Mian Abdul Qadir, bureaucrat ad ex-chairman of

Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the national, state-owned railway company of Pakistan. Founded in 1861 and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of track across Pakistan, stretching from Torkham to Karachi, offering both freight and passenger servi ...

. He did his graduation BA, LLB from Punjab University,

, Pakistan.

Professional career

Irfan Qadir began his legal career in 1982 and enrolled as a High Court Advocate in 1985. Since then, he has built up a substantial body of experience in all key areas of law by handling numerous significant cases in both the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and the High Court and providing numerous reported judgments. In addition, he has experience representing Pakistan internationally, having participated in numerous seminars and workshops at significant conferences in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. From 2006 through 2012, he continued to be a part of the International Corruption Hunters Network. Additionally, he is a fellow of the Eva Joly Institute for Justice and Democracy in Iceland. He is one of the original members of the 2006 Beijing-founded International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities. In addition to serving as a member of the Pakistani Judicial Commission and the Pakistan Law Commission, he also served as chairman of the

Pakistan Bar Council The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) ( ur, ) was established by the Parliament in 1973 under the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act. It is the highest elected body of lawyers in Pakistan. It has twenty two members elected from across the count ...

. He gained knowledge in every area of the legal field, including that of a successful lawyer, superior court judge, high-ranking law officer, and top

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", ...

. He has handled a significant number of important cases in the

and the High Court over the last three decades, giving him extensive experience in nearly all key areas of law.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (October 2022-present)

In Shehbaz Sharif's ministry Irfan, was appointed to the position of Special Assistant to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Shehbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: , ; born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who is currently serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, in office since 11 April 2022. He is the current president of ...

for accountability & interior with the status of Federal Minister on 30 September 2022. According to a notification, Irfan's status will be equivalent to that of a federal minister. The News reported that because Qadir has an exceptional legal background, his inclusion in the federal government would strengthen the legal and prosecution side of the administration of law. Qadir's arrival, would worry some people, especially former PTI government officials who have been charged with serious crimes but are eluding justice because there hasn't been any action taken to hold them accountable. It is believed that Irfan Qadir will assist in directing the anti-corruption efforts of the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

, NAB, and other pertinent agencies given his extensive experience in dealing with legal issues and prosecution.

Attorney General for Pakistan (2012-2013)

Irfan, who is well known for his aggressive demeanour toward the judiciary, was indignantly named Pakistan's attorney general by the Gillani administration in April 2012. Irfan was chosen as AGP by

Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani following consultation with Federal Law Minister Farooq H. Naek. The reorganization took place as the government anticipates hostile rulings from the proactive judiciary in the case against

Yusuf Raza Gilani Yusuf Raza Gilani (Urdu: ; born 9 June 1952), is a Pakistani politician who served as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 25 March 2008, until his retroactive disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 26 April 2012. He ...

for contempt of court and for failing to enforce the court's ruling against the defunct National Reconciliation Order (NRO).

Secretary, Ministry of Law (2012)

Prior to taking office as his nation's

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, he served as federal secretary for the Ministry of Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs.

Prosecutor General NAB (2010)

Irfan Qadir was appointed

National Accountability Bureau The National Accountability Bureau ( ur, ; abbreviated NAB) is an autonomous and constitutionally established federal institution responsible to build efforts against corruption and prepare critical national economic intelligence assessments ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakistan ...

in 2010 but

ruled that NAB, Irfan Qadir's appointments as prosecutor general were unlawful.

Supreme Court decision against appointment

This decision was made by the three-member panel led by Chief Justice

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ( ur, ; born 12 December 1948) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 20th Chief Justice of Pakistan over three non-consecutive terms from 29 June 2005 to 11 December 2013. Chaudhry began practice as an advocate ...

after they heard a petition asking for Irfan Qadir to be reappointed as NAB's prosecutor general. Justices

Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday Honourable Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday ( Punjabi, ) is a Pakistani jurist who served as judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He remained permanent judge of Supreme Court from 2002 to 2010. He was born in Lahore on 13 January 1945. ...

and Ghulam Rabbani made up the rest of the SC bench. A day after the NAB prosecutor general's outburst in the Supreme Court, the prime minister

issued an order to withdraw his privileges. The prime minister had stated that orders from the

will be carried out in letter and spirit and that he had given the law secretary instructions for doing so.

Argument and challenged SC ruling

Because the president was the one who appointed the NAB prosecutor general, Qadir once argued that he was only subject to orders made by the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and not the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. He added that the PM, who is in charge of the NAB, makes the decisions and challenged the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding his removal.

Resignation

Prosecutor General of the

, Qadir submitted his resignation to President

on September 8, 2010, after contesting the Supreme Court's directives for his dismissal but he did not withdraw his appeal filed before the apex court challenging its order which had declared his appointment as illegal, on instructions of the president.

Prosecutor General NAB (2003-2006)

He had also worked for the NAB's Prosecutor General Accountability between 2003 and 2006. The only Prosecutor General in the Pakistan to have served the full three years in this position is he.

Judge Lahore High Court (2009)

President

nominated 16 additional judges to the

(LHC) in February 2009, bringing the total number of justices on the high court up to 52 and Irfan Qadir was one of them.

Court ruling against PCO judges

Irfan didn’t qualify to be appointed as judge of the

, after he had left as high court judge for being a

Provisional Constitutional Order The Provisional Constitutional Order, popularly known as PCO, is an emergency and extra-constitutional order that suspends either wholly or partially the Constitution of Pakistan — the supreme law of land. The PCO fulfills and acts as the temp ...

(PCO) justice due to the apex court ruling of July 31, 2009. Before his retirement, President

had nominated 26 judges of the Lahore High Court in consultation with Chief Justice

Abdul Hameed Dogar Abdul Hameed Dogar () is a Pakistani jurist who served as the former Justice of Sindh High Court,

Additional Advocate General Punjab (1996-1997)

In 1988, he was an Assistant Advocate General Punjab, and in 1990 to 1995, he was promoted to the more senior position of Additional Advocate General Punjab.

Additional Advocate General Punjab (1990-1995)

he was also appointed 1996 to 1997 for second consecutive term

Legal career

He has been consistently participating in significant matters at the Supreme Court for the past more than 30 years. He has a number of recorded cases in Pakistan's higher courts to his credit in terms of his career as a lawyer. Both as a lawyer and a law enforcement official, he has had a very successful career.

CM Punjab election vs Supreme court (July 2022)

On July 26, 2022, the Punjab Chief Minister's election case was decided by the

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...

, which deemed Dost Mazari's decision as the

deputy speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

of the

provincial assembly Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

to be illegal. Pervez Elahi, the

PML-Q The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ur, ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronym and initialism, Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League") is a Conservative Nationalism in Pakistan, nationalist political party in Pakistan. A ...

, leader's was also named the new

chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

of the province by the court. The three-judge panel, which was led by

Chief Justice of Pakistan } The Chief Justice of Pakistan (Urdu: ) (Initialism, initials as CJP) is head of the court system of Pakistan (the Judiciary of Pakistan, judicature branch of Government of Pakistan, government) and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of Paki ...

Umar Ata Bandial Mr Umar Ata Bandial (Urdu: عمرعطا بندیال; born 17 September 1958) is a Pakistani jurist who currently serves as the 28th Chief Justice of Pakistan . His appointment as the new Chief Justice was approved by President Dr. Arif Alvi ...

and also included Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Muneeb Akhtar, issued the ruling after a three-hour delay and instructed Governor Punjab to swear in Elahi at 11:30 p.m. tonight. The Mazari's decision, which allowed

Hamza Shahbaz Mian Muhammad Hamza Shahbaz (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 6 September 1974) is a Pakistani politician, who is current Leader of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Punjab, in office since 20 October, 2022, He served in this position from ...

to continue serving as the province's chief minister, was challenged by the PML-Q in a petition that was submitted on Saturday 23 July 2022 through the PML-Q attorney Amir Saeed Rawn and the Irfan Qadir was the attorney from the deputy speaker Dost Mazari.

Petition

On , Saturday 23 July 2022

Pervaiz Elahi Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi (Urdu, pa, ; born 1 November 1945) is a Pakistani politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Punjab, Pakistan, Chief Minister of Punjab and the President of Pakistan Muslim League (Q), a conservative C ...

submitted a plea to the

Lahore registry contesting the re-election of Hamza Shehbaz as the province's chief minister. He urged the court to reverse the deputy speaker's ruling about the CM election vote count in his appeal. He asserted that because of his illegal and unconstitutional order, the deputy speaker did not count the votes cast by the PML-Q. He maintained that the decision went against the Supreme Court's directive. Pervaiz Elahi asserted that the deputy speaker's choice also broke Article 63-A. At midnight on Friday, Lahore Registry Deputy Registrar Ejaz Gorayra and other personnel raced to their offices in response to the plea being filed by PML-Q attorney Amir Saeed Rawn.

Coalition govt petition

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

and

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam ( ur, جمیعت علماءِ اسلام, abbreviated as JUI) was founded by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani as an offshoot of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) on 26 October 1945. History The original Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was formed in Bri ...

petitioned the Supreme Court to become a party in the case however, the Supreme Court dismissed the JUI(F) petition impartially and accepted the PPP's petition.

Full court plea and objection on bench

A three-judge Supreme Court bench, presided over by Chief Justice Bandial and including Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Munib Akhtar, heard the case in the court's Lahore registry. The Supreme Court decided to name Hamza Shehbaz as Punjab's interim chief minister until Monday 25 July 2022, when the court will reassemble to consider the case. Hamza was forbidden by the Supreme Court from using his CM authority for political gain. According to the CJP, the deputy speaker's decision was clearly in violation of the Article 63-A ruling. The coalition government objected to the three-judge bench after the earlier

decision and asked for the creation of a full court bench, citing the significance of the case. Speaking with PDM Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman about submitting a petition for a full court bench was

president

Chaudhry Shujaat Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain ( pa, ; ur, ; (born 27 January 1940) is a senior Pakistani politician from a Punjabi Jat family of Gujrat who previously served as 16th prime minister of Pakistan. Hussain is the party president of the Pakistan ...

and Maulana Fazal also spoke about the case over the phone.

Full court plea rejected

The Supreme Court had denied the coalition government's request to create a full court bench on issues relating to the Punjab chief minister election held on 22 July 2022 after receiving a full court appeal from PDM. A full court bench is constituted in serious matters, the CJP stated. According to Chief Justice Bandial, the main issue before the bench was whether or not a party leader could give orders to his parliamentary party members. This affects the entire province. I don't want to imply that the bench's impartiality is in doubt. The respect and confidence in the court would rise if a full court is constituted, according to Mazari's attorney, Irfan Qadir.

Boycott SC proceedings

The Pakistani coalition government declared it would boycott the court proceedings after criticising the Supreme Court's choice to not convene a full bench to hear a crucial case involving the contentious election of the Punjab Chief Minister. At a press conference in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

, PDM leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman claimed that the government's attorneys had recommended a full bench, but the court had rejected their recommendation without giving it any thought.

Verdict

Following a series of incidents, The

ruled on the election of the Punjab Chief Minister on July 26, 2022, and in its ruling, the court found Dost Mazari's choice to serve as deputy speaker of the provincial legislature to be unlawful. The court also appointed PML-Q leader Pervez Elahi as the new chief minister of the province. After a three-hour delay, the three-judge panel, which was presided over by

and composed of Justices Ijazul Ahsan and Muneeb Akhtar, handed down its decision and ordered Governor Punjab to appoint Elahi at 11:30 p.m. tonight.

Consultant to the President of Pakistan (2012)

He was appointed legal affairs consultant to Pakistan's President

in March 2012.

Appellate Authority of PCB (2010)

He was also appointed as the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...

's Appellate Authority in 2010.

License cancellation

In March 2015 a three-judge panel of the

supreme court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...

suspended his license to practice law due to his conduct and appearance as counsel for the

Sindh Government The Government of Sindh ( sd, حڪومت سنڌ) ( ur, ) is the provincial government of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, in which 30 Districts of 7 Divisions un ...

in a case involving the purchase of armored personnel carriers worth Rs1.23 billion by the

Sindh Police , nativenamea = , nativenamer = , commonname = , abbreviation = SP , fictional = , patch = , patchcaption = , logo = Sindh Police Logo.png , logocaption = , badg ...

from a

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

n company. The court also requested information from

Inspector-general of police An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

regarding the payment of Irfan's fees, with further instructions to identify the payer. Earlier, the IG Sindh informed the court that of the Rs3 million in agreed-upon fees, Rs2 million had already been given to Qadir. The court had further noted that there was no Wakalat Nama filed authorizing Irfan Qadir to appear in this case. The court had instructed its office to contact the Karachi Registry to determine whether any of the attorneys on file had submitted a Wakalat Nama allowing Irfan Qadir to appear in court in the current case. The court ruled that after asking, it was told that no such direction had been given. Irfan has appeared in this matter for the last 11 hearings, and the court has expressed concerns about how and on what grounds he has done so. The court had requested additional advocate general Sindh to investigate the source of Qadir's fees. However, the additional advocate general wanted more time to obtain such information. Irfan Qadir was ordered by the court to appear before it on next hearing to give an explanation for remarks he made earlier before the bench, and the court also ordered its office to send a copy of the order to him.

Restoration

In February 2019 Irfan's practicing license was reinstated by the

after a nearly four-year absence. While hearing the case, a three-judge Supreme Court panel led by Chief Justice

Asif Saeed Khosa Asif Saeed Khan Khosa ( ur, ; born 21 December 1954) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 26th Chief Justice of Pakistan from 18 January 2019 to 20 December 2019. He joined the Supreme Court as a judge on 18 February 2010 and prior to that ...

ordered that the former

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

's practicing license should be reinstated. Mehmood Akhtar Naqvi's petition for the

to hear the former AG's contempt of court case was granted. The chief judge noted that the contempt charge was only one aspect of the case involving the license reinstatement. He claimed that since the petitioner was not in court and no request for an adjournment had been made by him, the case could no longer be continued. The bench then announced that Irfan's licence to practise law had been reinstated and concluded the contempt of court proceedings against him. Then, Justice Khosa welcomed Qadir back into the legal community and wished him well in his future interactions with the bench. In response, Irfan Qadir also thanked the chief justice for giving him his due after four years.

International exposure

Having represented Pakistan in numerous seminars and workshops in significant forums in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, Irfan has had significant exposure abroad. From 2006 through 2012, he continued to be a part of the International Corruption Hunters Network. Additionally, he is a fellow of the Eva Joly Institute for Justice and Democracy in Iceland. He is a founding member of the Beijing-based International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities, which was founded in 2006.

References

External links

Irfan Qadir profile

Cabinet division of Pakistan

Open Sanctions
, - {{s-end 1956 births People from Lahore 20th-century Pakistani lawyers Living people 21st-century Pakistani lawyers Attorneys General of Pakistan