New Tasks Ahead Of The Restored Judges
By Mehroz Siraj Sadruddin
28 March, 2009
Countercurrents.org
March 16 would go down in Pakistan’s otherwise chequered judicial history as major achievement. The day marked the victorious culmination of an epic struggle by the nation’s secular and educated middle class for the restoration of the rule of law and an independent judiciary. The lawyers’ long march and epic struggle which was being spearheaded by heavy-weights like Aitzaz Ahsan, Ali Ahmed Kurd, cricketer turned politician Imran khan and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has signalled to the world that dictatorship, authoritarianism and one-man rule would no longer be tolerated by any segment of the civil society in Pakistan.
However, now that the judges have been restored and the reinstating of the Punjab government of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif seems imminent, light must be shed upon the newly raised questions and the pending political and socio-economic issues and cases which would be on the judiciary’s plate since day one. Because of conflicting information, it is still not known whether the Supreme Court under the newly restored Chief Justice would institute proceedings of corruption, treason and contempt of court against former President Pervez Musharraf or not.
We also do not know with sureity that whether the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance , NRO that brought President Zardari to the mainstream, would be scrapped or not. Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan has gone on the record to suggest that the constitutional cover that makes a sitting president be immune from charges of corruption and treason, be removed through a constitutional amendment. Now is the right time for the judiciary to play its duo role in restoring Pakistan’s lost dignity internationally. One positive step in the right direction would be to repeal all the acts and actions undertaken by the Musharraf government after the illegal Provisional Constitutional Order and emergency rule was imposed upon the nation. All provisions of the PCO shall be repealed by this Supreme Court in the wider national interest of restoring the 1973 constitution as it stood before the emergency.
Other than this, the first thing that the newly restored Supreme Court should do is to launch independent investigations into events and activities which are widely believed to be conspiracies against our country. The first incident that the court should investigate in this regard is the recent attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. That terrorist act has conviniently ensured that Pakistan will not be considered as a place for hosting international cricket in the forseeable future. If cricket has to be brought back to the country and if terrorism has to be defeated, then we need to know who were the masterminds of this dastardly act. Independent media coverage and a short report released by the investigating authorities last week have suggested a possible Indian involvement into the incident. The Supreme Court should properly investigate the attack and the revelations should be made public. In its proceedings, the court should also look forward to hold accountable, officials in our local authorities i.e. the high-ups in the police department and members of the Punjab government of former Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and governor Salman Taseer (who still does not admit a security lapse, despite damning evidence).
It is only then, that the confidence of the cricket world in Pakistan can be restored and international cricket’s return to Pakistan can be facilitated and celebrated. It goes beyond doubt to suggest that all the indications and warnings that the government had been getting were ignored and missed because of the on-going political tussle between the PPP and the PML-N parties. Other than these contemporary issues, the restored judiciary at the Supreme and High Court level should also take suo-moto notices on many other issues of public interest, especially where the existence of discriminatory and corrupt practices are well known. One such key issue is that of water procurement and distribution in Karachi.
Over a period of time, news media reports have given clear cut indications about the impending corruption in the KWSB, because of which citizens of Karachi, especially in areas like Shah Faisal Colony and North Nazimabad, whose residents routinely complain about inadequate water supply, or supply of stagnant water which normally makes children fall ill to entirely preventable diseases. The Sindh High Court should take notice of this. Past records of the superior courts suggest that a huge backlog of cases pertaining to rape, human rights abuse, property violation, etc. Which await the judiciary’s attention. It is interesting to notice that one such case of property violation, at the Chak shahzad farms, also involves Gen (R) Musharraf and former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. It would be interesting to see that if the Supreme Court prosecutes that case now, what approach would it take.
Cases about financial irregularities and official loan sanctioning during the Musharraf years have been documented well in the English language press. It is important to understand that these cases involved taxpayers money by the billions. Those embezzling it, or misusing should be held accountable in the highest court. The reinstated judges should understand that they owe their jobs to the sporadic struggle and relentless endeavours of the nation’s educated and secular civil society. Now is the right time for the judges to do what is expected of them, to dispense justice with honesty, rationality and intellecual independence from any fear of political manipulation or intervention from anyone. If Pakistan’s image has to be restored around the world, then the judiciary has to play its duo role by ensuring that corrupt political office bearers be held accountable.
The people of Pakistan have surely lost faith in politicians and the generals. However, considering the widespread support that the lawyer’s movement was able to garner, the judiciary should now play a leading role in restoring the confidence of the people. This can only be done when the courts start to dispense speedy justice on matters of immense public importance.
