Supreme Court orders Zardari graft cases to be reopened

There is a strong sense among the Pakistani elites that Justice Chaudhry has become Mr. Sharif’s key ally. The agenda is not much different. Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan is leading the campaign against President Zardari and somehow supporting “Oust Zardari” campaign. This is very unfortunate for people of Pakistan, democracy. His conduct has led some of his erstwhile allies to criticize him and speak of the danger to democracy posted by judicial meddling in politics. The stakes are stark indeed. If Mr. Chaudhry succeeds in ousting Mr. Zardari, Pakistan’s fledgling democracy would be undermined and the judiciary’s own legitimacy would be irrevocably damaged. Rule by unaccountable judges is no better than rule by the generals.

The Supreme Court’s judgment on the National Reconciliation Ordinance was a historic decision and speak volumes for the independence of the judiciary. But the verdict raised many eyebrows – certain ‘legal eagles’ even termed it “targeted and politically motivated” for the decision was meant to target one person and it was full of flaws. Supreme Court recently only expressed “sorrow” on the verdict given in Zafar Ali Shah case but it did not over-turn or nullified its previous judgment through a larger bench. No one can deny that NRO was the instrument that ensured return of democracy to this country. The return of democracy in Pakistan after a long period of military dictatorship is a unique example of such ‘negotiated change’ and NRO was than weapon which attained the impossible. It was NRO that forced a dictator to withdraw politically motivated cases, return of exiled leadership, shedding of uniform and agree on re-election.

I could yet remember In January 2000, Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, then a serving judge on the Balochistan High Court (BHC), was one of the first judges to take the oath on the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) of the military dictator General Musharraf in violation of Pakistan’s constitution. On May 13, 2000, Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was one of the 12 Supreme Court judges who validated the military coup of Gen Pervez Musharraf. They ruled that the removal of the elected government of Nawaz Sharif was legal on the basis of the ‘doctrine of necessity. Chief Justice was then removed by the same military dictator, that was because of some personal conflicts but CJP very cunningly named it the fight of supremacy of law that instigated lawyers, who in their own sense were fighting for the rule of law. Lucky was Mr. CJP that Mush was kicked out and a democratic Govt emerged that restored him. But what happened, those who strive for CJP, felt that Mr. Chaudhry is fighting his personal war. If you see Mr. Kurd’s statements, it will prove that Mr. Chaudhry failed to come up with aspirations of those innocent people, but it was too late for them and people like Kurd had nothing except repenting.

Any involvement in politics by a sitting judge, not to mention a chief justice, is utterly inconsistent with an independent judiciary’s proper role. What is even worse, Chief Justice Chaudhry has been using the court to advance his anti-Zardari campaign. Two recent court actions are emblematic of this effort.

The first is a decision by the Supreme Court, announced and effective last December, to overturn the “National Reconciliation Ordinance.” The NRO, which was decreed in October 2007, granted amnesty to more than 8,000 members from all political parties who had been accused of corruption in the media and some of whom had pending indictments. While some of these people are probably corrupt, many are not and, in any case, politically inspired prosecutions have long been a bane of Pakistan’s democracy.
The second anti-Zardari effort occurred just a few days ago, when the court set aside the presidential observation the on judicial appointments. The court’s three member -Justice panel justified the move by alleging the president failed to “consult” with Mr. Chaudhry. This constitutional excuse has never been used before.