What one has seen happening over the last two years has created the perception of an ongoing turf war between the executive, legislature and judiciary. The government maintains that the appointment, transfer or removal of officials comes strictly under the purview of the executive. In certain cases it agreed to carry out the directives of the Supreme Court (SC) pertaining to the government officials while in others it declined to do so. In the case of NAB Chairman Deedar Hussain Shah, when the government failed to comply with the courts demand he was removed through a judgment. The court then delivered a verdict that gave the Judicial Commission (JC) the authority to override the decision of the Parliamentary Committee (PC). The later maintains the decision amounts to overriding the parliament and has gone into appeal. The matter is now before a five-member bench of the SC.
The confrontation of the SC, first with the executive and now with the bipartisan PC, has led to a debate in the legal community over the extent of the jurisdiction of the SC. SCBA President Asma Jahangir has questioned if the apex court was heading towards a judicial dictatorship. She particularly referred to two decisions of the court to establish her point. According to her making a consultation with the CJ over the appointment of the NAB chief compulsory weakened the position of the parliament. Similarly, giving the JC the authority to override the PC also amounted to pulling down the authority of the parliament.
This shows that the perception of a turf war is not peculiar to the layman only but is a cause of concern for the legal profession also. There is a need for all institutions, particularly the judiciary to consider its ramifications. Democracy has returned to the country after nine years of military rule. Judiciary has got its independence after a heroic struggle by the judges which would not have succeeded without an unflinching support by the legal community, the civil society and political parties. Without democracy it might not remain possible to retain the independence. What is needed by all institutions is to strengthen one another and in no way undermine their authority.
