News
Monday, July 23, 2012
PPP losing trust in judiciaryBy Hasnaat Malik
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is losing trust in the superior judiciary for getting justice in the sub judice cases involving its leadership.
The year 2012 is seeing PPP leaders expressing distrust in the superior courts in TV talk shows regarding different matters.
During the hearing of the National Assembly speaker’s ruling case last month, Attorney General of Pakistan Irfan Qadir had accused the chief justice of bias and said he should not be hearing petitions against the speaker's ruling. Special Assistance to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Fawad Chaudhry, who is also a member of the government’s legal team, said the PPP had no hope of getting justice from the incumbent judiciary in any matter, which was why former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani did not file an appeal against his conviction and subsequent disqualification.
Senior lawyer Justice (r) Tariq Mahmood said the PPP’s act of not moving court against the former PM’s conviction could be the beginning of a dangerous trend, which could raise questions over the credibility of the incumbent judiciary. He said that the judiciary should consider why a ruling party was expressing distrust over it, as it was not a small issue.
Meanwhile, legal experts have urged the Supreme Court to decide Zulfikar Ali Bhutto reference case; otherwise the PPP leaders might raise the issue in the next general elections.
They also asked the PPP-led government not to form laws that were contrary to the constitution, adding that three controversial clauses of the Contempt of Court Act 2012 should be revised in view of the Pakistan Bar Council's recommendations. Since March 2009, back-channel diplomacy had been used on different occasions to defuse tensions between the judiciary and PPP government, but both the institutions are not in a position to compromise on their stances this year.
The first rift between the PPP and the superior court started when the SC suspended the NRO on October 12, 2007. Former president Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency and promulgated the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) on November 3, 2007, sending around 50 senior judges home. Though reluctant to reinstate the CJP initially after coming into power, the PPP conceded to public pressure and reinstated Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and 10 other judges on March 16, 2009.
The main confrontation between PPP and the SC started after court’s December 16, 2009, order to declare the NRO null and void, and directives to the government to send a letter to the Swiss government for reopening cases against President Zardari. Later, the CJP formed a special bench for the implementation of the NRO-related judgements. The proceedings of this bench have had profound repercussions on the relationship between the judiciary and the executive, which subsequently disqualified former PM Gilani. Due to the this NRO case, several other officials, like two attorney generals, one law secretary, a NAB chairman and many others left their offices as well.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk