The standoff between the executive and judiciary has apparently been defused for the time being following the posting of OSD Sohail Ahmed as the secretary of the Anti-Narcotics Division in compliance with Supreme Court orders.
However, the feud may emerge again in the coming days, as the Supreme Court is hearing a number of corruption cases involving political big wigs and their relatives.
According to analysts, hurdles would continuously be created in the proceedings of these cases to save the big guns. Like before, various tactics would be used to hinder the investigation into mega financial scams.
Though the government has been giving assurances of implementing court orders, the reality is that it seems bent upon defying the court’s orders through one or the other delaying tactics, which include and transfers of investigation officers.
In the Haj corruption case that involves a former federal minister and the prime minister’s son, the lead FIA investigation officer Hussain Asghar has been in the midst of the storm.
He was made the Gilgit-Baltistan IGP, but later transferred back by former establishment secretary Sohail Ahmed on Supreme Court’s orders. However, Asghar is yet to report to the FIA Headquarters after being relieved of his charge in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Former FIA Additional Director General Zafar Ahmed Qureshi was also suspended while probing the National Insurance Company Limited corruption scam that involves Moonis Elahi, son of senior federal minister and PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.
Qureshi is also awaiting reinstatement per court orders. The absence the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman and prosecutor general is thorn in the government’s side.The apex court has directing the government to fill the vacant posts, but the Centre seems little interested in doing so.
The chief justice of Pakistan has time and again expressed concern over the matter, but to no avail. The federal government’s continuous dillydallying in implementing SC orders and inconsiderate appointments and transfers of staff during investigations has been compelling the apex court to get in the way of the executive.
According to constitutional experts, including Justice (r) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, SM Zafar, Traiq Mehmood and others, the federal government should not forget that the arbitrary privileges did not exist in reality and whatever it was doing to save the skin of the people involved in corruption was only earning it a bad name.