Wilful failure

The government’s performance in wilfully failing to match its words with meaningful action was not bad to begin with. Over the years, however, it has raised this practice to an art form. The Gilani government was never exactly eager to set up a high-level judicial commission for an independent probe into the May 2 Abbottabad debacle, and it took it nearly three weeks to set up such a commission even after parliament had passed a unanimous resolution on May 14 demanding such an enquiry, following consultations between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. And when it did so at last, it was not merely an exercise in creating a false appearance but a clever attempt to complicate the issue in such a manner as to ensure that an independent probe into the Abbottabad incident remained a very weak probability. The government appointed Justice Javed Iqbal as chairman of the commission with four other personages as members. Chief justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was not taken into confidence while appointing a judge of the Supreme Court as head of the commission, nor was the leader of the opposition consulted – as was required by the parliamentary resolution. The government did not even seek the consent of the nominated chairman and members of the commission before issuing the notification. This methodical madness delivered the intended mess, infuriating the opposition and leaving many in the legal profession wondering. At least one of the nominated members of the commission, Justice (r) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, refused to become a part of a body whose very manner of constitution lacked mandatory consultation. This is how the government achieved its objective of avoiding an independent enquiry into an incident that shook the entire nation.

Even in the face of utmost tragedies, we can count on this government not to rise above opportunism and to make petty attempts to settle scores with those whose presence poses a check on its lust for more power and its craving for more corruption. This is the common thread that binds all the shenanigans it has indulged in against the judiciary ever since it assumed power, and this is what lies at the heart of the matter of the prime minister so conveniently bypassing the chief justice of Pakistan in appointing Justice Javed Iqbal as head of the Abbottabad commission. This disregard for the well-established norm of consulting chief justices of the courts before nominating serving judges to enquiries and commissions can only be seen as a clear move against the judiciary’s independence. If the government is allowed to unilaterally pick judges for enquiries and commissions, and if judges let themselves be ‘picked’ by the executive without the permission and approval of the chief justice, it will not only affect the working of the courts but also compromise the independence and impartiality of judges, and may even cause rifts within the judiciary. Such rifts and divisions may be the aim, and game, of someone in power; but for the people of this crisis-ridden country they will be a most unfortunate development. As things fall apart unceasingly, putting big question marks on the character and performance of almost every institution here, the glorious refusal of the present judiciary to become pawns and puppets in the hands of power remains a source of immense pride for people, and a ray of hope. We hope that the moves to kill this pride and extinguish this hope will end how they should — up in smoke.