The legal fraternity has expressed serious reservations over the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)-led government’s protests against the Lahore High Court (LHC)’s verdict in PPP Co-chairman/President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari’s dual office case. They said that instead of adopting an aggressive stance against the judiciary’s decision, those who disagree with the judgment should challenge it in the Supreme Court and avoid any conflict with the judiciary.
The PPP-Sindh Executive Committee had decided to take out rallies across Sindh against the LHC verdict. Talking to Pakistan Today, leaders of various bar associations and legal experts said that the ruling party has the constitutional right to approach the apex court against the LHC’s verdict, but the PPP is going down the wrong road and sparring with the judiciary.
Former Sindh High Court Bar Association president Justice (retd) Rasheed A Rizvi said that people have been adopting a dangerous trend where they start protesting a decision if they disagree with it, instead of taking rational steps for voicing their disapproval. The PPP should act within the confines of law and avoid taking any unreasonable steps, Rizvi added.
Pakistan Bar Council member/human rights activist Zia Awan Advocate said that on the one hand, the ruling party claims that it believes and respects the rule of law; but on the other hand, the rulers have adopted an aggressive stand against the rule of law. He said that the PPP is one of the chief political parties of the country, but if it is adopting such an aggressive stance against the judiciary, other parties and individuals would also be going down the same road in the future.
He added that the PPP must observe its prior stand to respect the judiciary as it has claimed several times in the past, and that it must accept the courts’ decision. Sindh Bar Council member Mehmoodul Hassan said that Zardari is playing the Sindh card because the judgment was meted out by the LHC against his wishes. He said that the PPP-Sindh had previously protested against the Supreme Court’s verdict and tried to portray the honourable judges as biased.
Zardari is the President of Pakistan, not of Sindh alone; therefore, he must avoid politicising the apex court’s judgment and should not act against it by staging demonstrations, he added. Hassan said that all provinces come under the domain of the federal government, which is governed by Zardari, and that the presidential office is the symbol of the federation. Previously, the PPP leadership had alleged that the apex court was biased against the Sindh leadership after the court had declared the appointment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman as invalid, he added.
Karachi Bar Association Secretary Haider Imam Rizvi said that the PPP could appeal in the apex court to challenge the LHC verdict. He said that some PPP leaders and representatives of the Sindh government are already facing contempt-of-court proceedings in the Supreme Court after adopting unlawful measures against the prior apex court verdict of removing the NAB chairman. He asked the PPP leaders to file for a review in the apex court using their constitutional rights, instead of staging protests.
