EDITORIAL: Contenders of power in this country have a habit of creating political mess and unfairly burdening the judiciary to deliver under visible/invisible pressures, usually exerted by dominant forces used to having their way.
The issue clearly weighed on his mind when speaking at a full court reference marking the commencement of new judicial year, the outgoing Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial said, “the court was put to test in a trying contest which was... only hostile and aggressive; as a result we sat back and became [its] victim and suffered in performance.”
While reflecting on an alarming rise in backlog of routine litigation, he remarked that a large number of them were decided during the previous year, but things began to change in February when constitutional cases with political undertones started pouring in.
The honourable CJP, widely respected for his integrity and uprightness, expressed the frustration, in his characteristic guarded manner, he faced seeing the apex court’s authority to interpret the Constitution undermined by the executive as well as an unsavoury rift within his own institution.
Referring to the judgement regarding the holding of election to the dissolved Punjab assembly within the constitutionally-mandated timeframe of 90 days, he pointed out that none of his brother judges had said the polls should not be held within that period, but the difficulty arose because it was a political case.
This suggests it was due to political reasons that some members of the august court either recused themselves from the bench hearing the case, or challenged the CJP’s prerogative, on the basis of a newly enacted law, to form benches.
Even if that bothered him, for appearances sake at least, he termed it a beauty of the Supreme Court today that it comprised fiercely independent judges having extraordinary intellect, adding that when independent minds speak difference of opinion definitely emerges.
Needless to say, judges must adjudicate on the basis of evidence brought before them and stay strictly within bounds of the laws of the land, delivering justice without fear or favour instead of resorting to the infamous ‘Doctrine of Necessity’, which has done horrendous harm to the democratic process as well as the dignity of the highest judicial forum.
Justice Bandial may not be entirely content within since he sounded like he was making a farewell speech thanking his brother and sister judges for their “generosity, warmth and support”, thereby indicating that he is likely to forgo the traditional full court reference on the eve of his September 17 retirement.
The outgoing CJP also expressed the hope that political and constitutional matters will go away so that the court could focus on disputes concerning ordinary litigants. That though is not going to happen any time soon.
Several cases, including two requiring constitutional interpretation, one that has triggered a dispute between the President and the Executive over two bills pertaining to fundamental rights and the other a tussle between the President and the Election Commission of Pakistan over the date of general elections, await CJP-designate Qazi Faez Isa’s ascension to the highest judicial office in the land.
Known for giving bold and principled verdicts, after he takes the office on September 17, Justice Isa is expected to maintain his reputation as one of the conscientious and fearless judges.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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