The Supreme Court, in its short judgement on December 16, 2009, had struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) declaring it void ab initio and ultra vires of the Constitution, thereby reviving all cases and reversing acquittals of its beneficiaries.
The 287-page detailed judgement released now provides the flesh of reasoning and legal precedents to the bare bones of that short order. If anyone is fearful of it, he must be the one who had been convicted but the NRO relieved his burden. And there are not many such beneficiaries among the political elite; only some 35 who made hay while the sun shone. The remaining 8,400 plus will go to the ordinary courts and face their cases, as thousands go there everyday.
The detailed judgement neither envisages establishing special courts nor speedy trials, short-circuiting the natural course of law and justice. Seen in its right perspective, the detailed judgement obtains an ambience of calm and tranquillity, except for those who have indulged or abetted in corruption, but gone scot-free, thanks to the NRO.
What the detailed judgement has in store for President Asif Ali Zardari's future, nothing can be said at the moment. As of now, he remains unscathed, for the judgement doesn't address him. Even when the court gives a fairly detailed account of the wealth kept by the dictatorial rulers of the Philippines and Nigeria in Swiss banks and how it was brought back, there is no mention of President Zardari as such.
But who knows that in the not too distant future petitions may be filed in the apex court seeking the return of that wealth to the national exchequer. Prime Minister Gilani is already committed to reviving contacts with the Swiss government once the detailed judgement is made available.
But given that this involves a foreign government and a clash of UN conventions - one UN convention is for the return of the ill-gotten wealth in foreign banks, but another restricts the trial of a head of state within the boundaries of his country - the money laundering cases against him are going to be a long-haul affair. But the electoral eligibility of President Zardari does come under sharper focus in the light of the apex court's position on the applicability of Article 62(f) to his candidature, as well as his continuation in his present office.
However, there too the court concedes that the said constitutional provision "cannot be considered self-executory" unless "a person involved in corruption and corrupt practices has been finally adjudged to be so, then on the basis of such final judgement, his candidature...can be adjudged to the effect whether he is sagacious, righteous, non-profligate, honest or Ameen".
Will president Zardari be obliged to appear before the court is a question that bedevils the minds of many. Consider, President Zardari appearing before an ordinary court in his trial for corruption. Then juxtapose this embarrassment with a possibility that he is exonerated. That is a dire situation, for him and his legal aides to ponder over and make a sensible way out of this quandary, but surely all is not lost for him.
A marathon struggle against corruption and for rule of law coming to fruition - that is the bigger picture people should be looking at. The apex court has delivered a deadly blow to the demon of corruption. The release of the judgement in the late hours of the evening, as against the norm of announcement during the day, did cause consternation to some and is still a question mark in the minds of many.
The price that the court verdict exacts from society is too small - a few politicians and some hardened criminals. Admitted, many of the beneficiaries of the NRO were rightful in what they got. Our politics, as it is, takes no time to become vindictive when adversaries are charged with false, cooked-up cases.
And it is true all the more for Karachi, where scores if not hundreds of innocent citizens were wrongfully booked for crimes they never committed. Let them now return to the courts and secure justice, which is real and untainted. In the process, they would be strengthening the rule of law which is so much missing from our lives.
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