What will happen to the inquiry commission that federal government announced on Saturday to investigate the controversial letter of the Islamabad High court judges is talk of the town.
It gains further importance particularly after the lawyers’ community in Pakistan along with the PTI have outrightly rejected the government initiative?
The lawyer’s community throughout the country are strongly opposing the government decision. They are calling for the formation of judicial commission rather than an inquiry body headed by some retired judge. Besides it is also being said that the executive herself has been blamed for exerting pressure over judiciary in the dispensation of justice.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) already has rejected the constitution of the inquiry commission. The opposition party is demanding the resignation of Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justice the IHC for their alleged inability to safeguard the independence of judiciary and protection of fellow judges of the IHC.
The PTI said the judges time and again have apprised both the chiefs of Supreme Court and of the IHC for alleged interference of the spy agencies and of the executive in judicial affairs expecting them give favorite decisions.
The PTI wants full advantage of this letter to get its founding chairman Imran Khan out of the bars and have once again been declared Sadiq and Ameen. It is all the way engaged taking lawyers into its fold countrywide claiming that restoration of the independence of judiciary was their common cause.
All bodies of the law practitioners’ – weather it is Pakistan Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar and provincial bar associations – have rejected this commission even today in their fresh statements. All this rejection and opposition is coming against this commission even after the Supreme Court endorsed the proposal for this commission when Prime Minister of Pakistan earlier met with the SC’s chief.
Why PTI is demanding resignation of SC chief when he –CJP- Justice Qazi Faez Isa unequivocally conveyed to PM Shehbaz Sharif that interference of the executive in judicial affairs would not be tolerated. The CJP besides holding consecutive full court session over the letter in question has emphasized no way there should be any compromise on the independence of the judiciary.
This letter of the IHC besides putting the credibility of those judges coupled with many other questions has paved a way for countrywide protests and has pated the PTI do more aggressive politic. Neither the PTI nor its lovers and supporters even in the lawyers’ community are ready to realize sincerity of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and of the federal government in that regard. In no way they are ready to accept that the government has completely it over the Supreme Court to take whatever actions the Apex Court deems fit over the findings of the commission.
The lawyers are urging the SC to take notice of allegations framed in the letter under Article 184(3) of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. They claim that a government-led commission would be entirely against the independence of judiciary. Article 184(3) is about the SC’s original jurisdiction and enables the court to assume jurisdiction in matters involving public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan.
However, the government has announced the formation of this commission after the federal cabinet approved this principal decision of the government. The government has appointed a retired Chief Justice of Pakistan – Tassaduq Hussain Jillani – who is an unbiased, competent and brave personality among the ranks and files of the Pakistan’s judiciary. This commission will independently work with a mandate to investigate the letter of six IHC’s judges to the Supreme Judicial Council alleging the executive and intelligence agencies for their influence in judicial decisions. The said commission will finalize its TORs in consultation with the Federal Law Minister and Attorney General of Pakistan and complete its findings within a period of sixty days.
(Senior journalist Rana Kashif has authored of this story)
