PTI & PML-N: Saviours of justice or a national joke?
There is never a dull moment in the land of the pure. We have a special knack to turn even solemn things into national jokes. A few leading political parties of the country have tried to hoodwink gullible people by posing to be ‘saviours of the judiciary.’ Unfortunately, they have been doing so with complete impunity and have, so far, remained successful in their designs. The PPP-led coalition government has also been accused of hatching conspiracies against the independence of the judiciary. This spectacle began on January 19, 2012 when Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani appeared before the Supreme Court in a ...
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It’s the law, stupid!
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s conviction for refusing to reopen a corruption investigation against the president consequently made him the first serving prime minister in Pakistan’s history to be convicted by a court. In a country like Pakistan, the list of firsts seems never ending. Regrettably, most firsts don’t give our people an opportunity to gloat. And yet yesterday, the Supreme Court gave us a first we can, or let me rephrase, we should take pride in. Some would question my assertion of believing that we have good reason to revel in our prime minister’s conviction. But this is bigger than ...
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A reporter’s eye: Inside the Supreme Court
Among heavy contingents of law enforcement agencies and hovering helicopters, a horde of people marched towards the Supreme Court yesterday. As they crossed countless walk-through security gates with special entry cards in their hands, they looked excited about catching a glimpse of the soon-to-be-convicted prime minister. While it is totally in keeping with local tradition to create such a scene, at the contempt hearing yesterday, goras (foreigners) too joined us at the forefront. Inside courtroom number 4, the environment was electric. All seats in the courtroom were filled hours before the proceedings began. Besides lawyers, the room was packed with federal ...
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Jinnah had a dream, and we failed him
Hopes were high when Jinnah presided over the Constituent Assembly in 1947 and declared without doubt that freedom of religion was to be respected. It was his wish to lift up the economic and politically deprived Muslims from their backwardness that led to the support of many non-Muslim minority activists as well, notably Christians. In a time where major Muslim political groupings allied themselves with the Indian National Congress, the Christians in their legislation secured Jinnah the desired support the All India Muslim League needed. His close friends and those amongst the founding fathers of Pakistan also belonged to minority ...
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Sympathy for a terrorist
The production of illegally detained, suspected terrorists in the Supreme Court should have been met with a sense of triumph. Instead, the families of missing persons, who have joined the Amna Janjua led missing persons camp over the past month, as ‘sympathisers’ of terrorists and militants. On the other hand those who have hailed the Supreme Court’s actions have been accused of neglecting the memory of the victims of terrorism and their families. Things have changed quite swiftly over the past few months. Then, everyone seemed content with denying that anyone was actually “missing” or that the military and intelligence agencies had anything ...
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Judicial activism and democracy
Recently in the backdrop of the ‘memogate’ controversy, the honourable apex court hearing a petition regarding the possible removal of the ISI chief and the army chief sought “assurances” from the government that the two would not be removed. Some would think that this is an example of one pillar of state, the judiciary, overstepping its boundaries and encroaching on the mandate of the executive. In Yale Law Professor Owen M Fiss’s essay The Right Degree of Independence, which deals with the idea of political insularity for the judiciary, an independent judiciary acts as a “countervailing force within a larger ...
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The limits of judicial review
The Supreme Court of Pakistan seems to be arrogating power to itself while targeting the executive. The problem here is is two-fold. The first issue is one of judicial review, and the limits of that tactic. The Supreme Court has asked the attorney general whether the government intended to dismiss the chief of Army staff and the director general ISI, and when answered in the negative, asked for a written response from the government to the same effect. This translates as a written guarantee that both the aforementioned figures will not be relieved of their posts. The prerogative for these actions in ...
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The president’s immunity
The question of whether President Asif Ali Zardari enjoys immunity against criminal or civil proceedings requires an analysis of Article 248 of the Constitution. This states that: Article 248 (1) : The president shall not be answerable to any court….for any act done or purported to be done in the exercise of those powers and performance of those functions. The article goes on to state that: Article 248 (2): No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the president or a governor in any court during his term of office. Article 248(3): No process for the arrest or imprisonment of the ...
Read Full PostWhy democracy should stay
Pakistan’s administrative setup was modeled after the British system: an elected legislative assembly was to give form to an executive government headed by the prime minister. The president was to hold a symbolic role while the judiciary was set to be independent. It remains a reality that despite the narrow scope in the electorate, Pakistan was a product of democracy, and will only thrive and succeed if it is democratic in structure and spirit. The continuous hampering course that Pakistan is passing through is not helping it become a truly democratic nation which can grow strong economically and deliver welfare to ...
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Musharraf’s politics: A Pakistani love affair
Enough has been written on APML’s Karachi jalsa on January 8. Much has been said about the not-so-intelligent choice of venue, drawing immediate comparisons to the mammoth PTI crowd just two weeks earlier. Perhaps its time to dwell on why there were less supporters (read 8,000 – 10,000) in the ground. General (retd) Pervez Musharraf is undoubtedly among the few love affairs of the Pakistani public. At a certain time in recent history, millions of us worshipped him, liked and loved him, defended his actions and chanted his slogan ‘Sab se Pehle Pakistan’. We were proud that we were led by ...
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