It is interesting to read Ferozuddin Ahmed Faridi's article on Accountability (BR, April 28). This analysis is generally correct. Another name for IT is homeostasis ie an organisms capacity to regulate itself in consonance with the laws of nature.
However, I do not share his scepticism. He needs to consider accountability has failed because of the three pillars, the judiciary, legislature and executive (administration), not being independent of each other.
In our Islamic tradition the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and caliphs when judging cases were not doing so as Chief Justices or Auditors-General - but as CEOs ie accountability of the executive was within the executive, as it is in private/public limited companies, multinationals and armies, navies and air forces world-wide.
This means there is no judicial review of administrative decisions. Our laws follow those of England where they have accommodated within their judicial systems consideration of equity and morality which is what is required in the administrative process, but this has happened there over hundreds of years.
Napoleon was less patient. He had Imam Maliks fiqh translated into French and most of French laws conform to Islamic principles, about 15% personal law is different. He ensured there was no judicial review of administrative decisions by the French judiciary.
He set up administrative courts with an apex Council of State headed by the Prime Minister to settle all administrative matters. There the State is the defendant and the citizen obtains equity/propriety judgements at a very low cost. Such courts can and do award damages against the state.
Our temperament is closer to the French rather than the English. We need this qualitative change in our process of accountability to improve ourselves.
Incidentally Article 216 of our Interim Constitution of 1972 lays the basis precisely for such courts whose jurisdiction is independent of the judicial.
Our only administrative hope is to make Article 216 of 1972 the law of the land to improve our shoddy governance particularly at the level when work is actually done ie at the operative or tactical levels.