The difference between the latest episode of friction between the judiciary and the executive and the previous ones is the prospect of the latter fighting back this time. Reports of the government seeking to reappoint NAB chief Deedar Hussain Shah, who was removed from his position as per a directive of the apex court, indicate that the government has decided to change tack.
If that indeed is true, it is going to be a messy affair, with the courts will coming through in the end. But, as some within the ruling party are saying, the decision to reappoint will be a matter of principle. If Mr Shah indeed is reinstated, the decision could be immediately considered to be contemptuous of court. The government could then argue that a review petition wasnt filed instead for lack of a detailed judgment. If the court insists upon the removal of the officer regardless of the time lag between the decision and the detailed judgment, it would then leave the government with no leeway whatsoever but to bide its time. In the meanwhile, the government could try, as it is doing now, to express its resentment at the decision through the media. In that vein, another rather sketchy approach is to influence opinions through the streets, as the government is klutzily trying to do now. There is a bit of confusion, feigned perhaps, on the ownership of the strike in Karachi, with the PPPs central machinery insisting the strike is the Sindh cadres initiative.
Taking out the Sindh card on each and every issue is not very statesmanlike though the party would insist it is a result of the frustration of the government being countered by the judiciary in a number of executive decisions. Expressing resentment against a court decision is not, as is being propagated erroneously, contemptuous of the court. The government has a right to protest against any action that it perceives to be an incursion on its turf by other state institutions, which, in the appointment of the heads of government agencies, seems to be the case.
