The rule of law is meaningless verbiage and comes only next to discretion. That is precisely how Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullahs response to an adjournment motion regarding the allotment of a permanent official residence to former Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court Kh Muhammad Sharif can be summed up. According to him, the Chief Minister had not violated the law but only exercised his discretionary powers to relax the existing rules.
The issue which figured in the Punjab Assembly on Friday first came to light when Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif approved the summary for the allotment of a permanent residence to the former CJ in the GOR-I in December 2010. This was done despite a dissenting note by the Punjab Chief Secretary who disregarded the intelligence reports that the former CJ needed a house in a safe locality because of serious threats to his life. And the CS was right in that the Punjab government should resolve the issue by providing security to Kh Sharif at his house in the DHA Lahore. The argument was valid and in line with the rules and regulations which allow civil servants and members of the superior judiciary to retain official residences only for six months after their retirement. Prior consultation with the officials of his department could have saved the Law Minister from the embarrassment of justifying the CMs decision by referring to similar violations committed by the previous regime.
The practice of allowing enhanced perks and privileges to the retired judges will not only set a wrong precedent but can also affect the functioning of the judiciary. If Kh Sharif has been allotted a permanent official residence in that Cordon Sanitaire, the GOR-I, on the grounds that he had decided some cases of sensitive nature then every retired judge will have to be facilitated in the same manner. The Punjab government should focus on beefing up the security of serving and retired judges rather than rewarding the pliant ones.