Hanif Abbasi resigns as SAPM amid controversy over appointment

• Hanif Abbasi confirms news of resignation.
• Appreciates PM Shehbaz for instilling confidence in him.
• Development comes amid ongoing case regarding his appointment.

ISLAMABAD: Following the controversy surrounding the appointment of senior PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi as a special assistant to prime the minister, he tendered his resignation on Thursday.

Confirming the news, Abbasi expressed gratitude to PM Shehbaz Sharif for instilling confidence in him.

Last month, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah stopped Abbasi from working, saying that a person convicted in any case is ineligible to hold any public office in the country.

The case

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.

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 Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to review the appointment of PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi as his special assistant.