Adjudicating in Lahore on Wednesday in a case that involved abduction of nine members of a Sindhi landless peasant family, the Supreme Court remarked that 80 percent of the problems could be addressed if only the people observed the law. Coming as it does from the country's supreme judicial authority, the comment merits serious attention.
The obvious question it raises is: why is the law observance so low in this country, whereas citizens in democratic, civilised societies generally tend to show respect for rules and regulations and the rights of others? Of course, it cannot be that people in those societies are by nature law abiding and in our country transgression-prone.
The fault lies with the system. People in any society will want to take liberties with laws, rules and regulations if the system allows them to get away with it. The real issue in this country is the absence of the system based on the rule of law, which regards all people as equals. A lot of people here believe they are more equal than others.
Many in this country readily accuse the enforcement agencies for poor observance of the law. Since the police are corrupt, it is argued, those with the means can literally get away even with murder. That though is only one aspect of the problem.
It is also a fact that even if they want, police officials cannot always act according to their conscience and the call of duty. An incident that happened in Lahore during the chief ministership of Ghulam Haider Wyne amply illustrates that point. As many Lahorites might recall, a traffic police sergeant tried to stop a land cruiser since it was fitted with tinted glasses, banned under the traffic laws.
The occupant of the grand vehicle, an MPA, found it an affront to his exalted position that a sergeant should dare to signal him to stop, and pressed onwards. But the sergeant persisted in his efforts, and called a much senior official for help.
That official responded as he should have, and caught up with the culprit at the Punjab Assembly to admonish him for the violation. Instead of receiving a pat on the back for doing the right thing, the chief minister sent the sergeant to a prison and gave the senior officer marching orders for having the audacity to check a ruling party legislator on account of violating the law.
Ordinary persons also find it hard to fathom why they get disconnection notices on non-payment of utility bills for two consecutive months, while, as the Army's electricity bills recovery campaign, launched a while ago, showed the rich and the powerful face no such worries.
In fact, ruling classes routinely bend rules to serve their purposes. Occasionally, laws are also changed to deal with a particular political opponent. For instance, in order to keep PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari under non-bailable arrest for a prolonged period, the Nawaz Sharif government had changed the legal provision that allowed for the release of a prisoner on bail if he/she was imprisoned for more than two years without trial.
Unfortunately, our higher judiciary has not come out smelling of roses, either, whenever it was called upon to act as a fair arbiter in the civil and military disputes over issues of governance.
It did deliver some sound judgements in certain cases, but long after the damage had already been done. When the rich and the powerful feel free to flout laws, and laws are bent or changed to punish political opponents, and higher judiciary is reluctant to play its due role under difficult circumstances, it is too much to expect that ordinary people should observe the law.