Overreaching?

The government in the SC’s turf

The ongoing standoff between the government and SC has heated up by several notches. The government has made the federal establishment secretary an OSD – a euphemism, functionally, for suspension. Earlier, the apex court had threatened the secretary with imprisonment if he failed to produce the restoration notification of an FIA investigator. Caught between the devil and deep blue sea, the hapless bureaucrat chose the court and was punished for it. Yet another indication that the government has not yet reconciled with the existence of an independent judiciary.

The Prime Minister continues to affirm that he would abide by the SC’s directives but what is happening is footdragging, evasions and at times downright refusal by the administration to carry out the court’s directives. This has led to the removal or resignation of three Attorney Generals during the last three and half years. The fate that befell the heads of the FIA, the country’s premier body to investigate white collar crime and terrorism, is even worse. Ordered by the government to follow its policy and reprimanded by the SC for doing so, five FIA chiefs left within 30 months. Two were reportedly removed for not toeing Rehman Malik’s line while three others quit after they invited the SC’s ire. The frequent replacement of the FIA’s directors general has taken a toll on the agency’s efficiency.

The governments in the past broke laws and bent rules and regulations in collusion with pliant courts often packed with the military ruler’s supporters or with the loyalists of the ruling party. The government had hoped to succeed in retaining a CJ with a tainted reputation appointed by Musharraf under emergency powers. After the move failed, one expected the government to be careful in its dealings. The Hajj scam which led to the dismissal and arrest of the concerned federal minister indicates that this failed to happen. What is more, the government leaders should have clearly told their coalition partners that the administration would not take on the courts to oblige them. The episode of Zafar Ahmad Qureshi’s continued suspension despite the apex court’s directives to restore him indicates this too has not happened.

It is difficult to find fault with a court taking action against corruption in the influential circles. The government has to realise that a confrontation with judiciary does not add to its image. It has already damaged the careers of senior bureaucrats and is sending a demoralising message to bureaucracy. What is more, the confrontation has the potential to erode the system.