References against judges
As though the country did not have enough problems on its
plate currently, a row has broken out regarding the filing of references before
the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against senior Supreme Court judge Justice
Qazi Faez Isa and the Sindh High Court’s Justice K K Agha. The whole affair has
been shrouded in a fog of confusion until recently, when the news of the
reference against Justice Isa was ‘leaked' to the media. This persuaded the
honourable Justice Isa to write to President Arif Alvi (his office being the
mover of such references) to confirm whether this was indeed the case and if
so, could he have a copy of the impugned reference. Since then, the country has
been rife with protests by the opposition and bar councils and interminable discussions
on the electronic media regarding the affair. At last this has now been put a
stop to by the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), forbidding news,
analysis or discussion of the issue. Meanwhile, the speculation about Federal
Law Minister Farrogh Naseem being the mastermind and mover of the references
has been denied by the worthy minister as well as his ministry. They have
passed the buck to the Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) as the source of the
information that the judges in question possess properties abroad in the names
of their spouses that they have failed to declare in their wealth statements.
The ARU on the other hand has denied being the complainant, hiding behind its
duty to pass on any such information to the relevant institutions, chief amongst
them the law ministry. Although the PM’s office and the Law Ministry have
issued a press release on the subject explaining in detail the mechanism
leading to the filing of the references and stressing that exercise of any
discretion or deviation by the state functionaries would be tantamount to
dereliction of duty, but the widespread perception ruling the roost throughout
the country though remains the suspicion that these judges, and Justice Isa in
particular, are being targeted for their fair and bold decisions that do not
shrink from stating uncomfortable truths. In Justice Isa’s case, his
conclusions in the inquiry into the lawyers’ community’s bombing in Quetta, the
order in the review petition pertaining to Hudaibiya Paper Mills and his
verdict in the Tehreek-e-Labaik sit-in in Islamabad appear to have aroused the
ire of the powers that be. Explanations and corrections have surfaced in the
media from the law ministry and the president’s office regarding the role of
these institutions in the affair.
Meanwhile, both houses of parliament echoed with the issue
on May 31, 2019. Whereas the opposition, on the basis of its majority in the Senate,
managed to pass a resolution of condemnation on the issue, the National
Assembly (NA), despite a similar resolution being moved by the opposition, fell
prey to the ruction over the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) issue. The NA
opposition did compensate for not being properly heard or its resolution being
accepted in the house by holding a press conference in which the strong message
against any attempt to target the independent minded judges of the superior
judiciary was conveyed by all the opposition parties unanimously. Even the
‘ally’ of the government in the Centre, Akhtar Mengal of the Balochistan
National Party-Mengal joined in and lent his voice to the stance of the
opposition. The lawyers community countrywide, with the ‘honourable’ exception
of the Punjab Bar Council, is united in its condemnation of the references and
its stated resolve to stand firmly with the judiciary and against any attempt
to emasculate its independent minded members. A joint preliminary meeting of
the national, provincial and Islamabad bar councils on June 8-9, 2019 in
Islamabad will be followed by a meeting called by the Pakistan Bar Council on
June 12. All this is in preparation for the lawyers’ intent to be at the
Supreme Court on June 14 when the SJC will begin hearings into the references.
If there is a sense of déjà vu here, it is entirely the
fault of the powers that be. The fact that the government appeared to be
maintaining a pregnant silence on the issue until now points the finger of
suspicion to the usual cast of suspects. The timing too defies explanation as
the government is faced with the prospect of a possible opposition agitation
after Eid and a general atmosphere of protests after presentation of the
federal budget that is likely to put an unprecedented burden on the people. The
government appears hoist by its own (or someone more powerful’s) petard,
reminding one of the lawyers movement that led to Parvez Musharraf’s departure,
but this time with the added spice of a possible opposition street agitation.
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