Pakistan People's Party (PPP) will play the Sindh card if the Apex Court dismisses the review petition on National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) case, well informed sources in the PPP told Business Recorder. PPP stalwarts believe that the Sindh card was effective in the past and would work again.
However no final decision has yet been taken in this regard and there is a consensus that the Attorney General's office would continue to employ delaying tactics to prolong the case as much as possible. Rhetorically the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Naveed Chaudhry told Business Recorder that the government would implement the judgement of the Supreme Court if it was in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and fulfilled the legal requirements.
Chaudhary added that according to Article 248 (2) of the Constitution, "No criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the President or a Governor in any court during his term of office." If Article 248 (2) of the Constitution is violated then it would be tantamount to damaging the federation because the President is a symbol of the Federation.
Chaudhary insisted that the decision of Apex Court on NRO had been implemented. He said that in this regard, the government had opened 80032 cases out of 80034 and directed provinces to open accountability courts to expedite these cases. The PPP leader said that the government was implementing the decision of the Apex Court on the NRO and in this regard ministers of the federal government are also appearing before the courts.
However, legal wizards and analysts termed the review petition as an attempt to put on hold implementation of the judgement. Justice (Retd) Nasira Waheed Iqbal, Advocate Ali Zafar and Advocate Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb agreed that the fate of the review petition was 'bleak' since government had opted not to defend the NRO and Supreme Court rules did not allow replacement of counsel in review jurisdiction.
When asked about the implementation of the judgement, Justice (Retd) Nasira Waheed Iqbal referred to Article 190 of the Constitution, "All executive and judicial authorities throughout Pakistan shall act in aid of the Supreme Court" and said "yes the court can ask the army to help it in implementation of the judgement".
Lieutenant General Talat Masood (Retd) commented: "irrespective of law and constitutional provisions, I personally feel that it may be an embarrassing situation for both the military and civil administrations and could trigger serious rift between the two institutions".
But another defence analyst on condition of anonymity said that while the executive, legislative and judicial organs are autonomous in their respective spheres, they could only flourish when they acted in harmony. Any interference by one in the sphere of the other leads to conflict and consequent constitutional imbalance. Armed forces fall strictly within the hierarchy of the executive organ of the state. Any directive to the armed forces bypassing the federal government would upset the delicate constitutional balance.
Advocate Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, an associate of Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, the lead counsel of Dr Mubashar Hassan in the NRO case, said that the ulterior motive of the government for filing review petition was to delay its implementation. He added that the government was well aware of Supreme Court's limitations. When asked about dismissal of the review petition owing to lack of representation, he said that "during the next day of hearing, we (respondents) are considering responding to the pleadings of the review petition."
"I have suggested to Mr Abdul Hafeez Pirzada that instead of a default judgement (given by the court due to lack of representation), we should respond to the pleadings of the review petition," he added. When asked for comments, Advocate Ali Zafar said that the case had legal and political aspects. While explaining the legal angle of the case, he said that the government had a weak case since it had not defended the ordinance but had filed the review petition. Similarly, replacement of counsel under the SC Rules 1980 is simply not allowed, he added.
When asked about the process of implementation, he averred that since the judgement on NRO was a federal issue, therefore the court may ask the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for its implementation. But the top anti-graft body, he added, is being run without a chairman for quite some time which has hampered implementation of the apex court verdict. He added that the court can call on the army in case the court comes under attack and not for the implementation of its verdict.
When approached PML-N information secretary Ahsan Iqbal said that unfortunately the government has adopted a confrontational approach with judiciary, which might be harmful for the existing democratic system. He stated that undemocratic powers were responsible for the present situation that paved the way for the present 'corrupt' government to come into power as a result of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). "The incumbent government itself is a gift given to the nation as a result of the NRO by undemocratic powers", he said, adding that people would support the independent judiciary whatsoever the consequences of the confrontation that the government has started with the judiciary.
He said that the government should respect decisions of the judiciary, adding that repeated reluctance to abide by the apex court's directions would be tantamount to destabilising the democratic system. Ahsan, however, ruled out possibility of any future miss-adventurism in the country saying that people rendered countless sacrifices for the democratic system that came into existence after eight years of dictatorial rule.