We have all stood witness to the recent Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) elections which took place in all the four provinces of the country wherein Yasin Azad contested for president and won. It is worthy to note that prior to the elections which was widely covered by the print and electronic media, not many lawyers knew who Yasin Azad was. This is despite the fact that he is a sitting member of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC). All eyes were targeted at his competitor Rasheed A Razvi, a former judge of the Sindh High Court, a hero of the Lawyers’ Movement, four-time President of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) and had remained vice chairman of both the PBC and Sindh Bar Council.
The unfamiliarity of Yasin’s name amongst the practicing lawyers of the nation was perhaps due to the fact that he had hardly appeared in the High Courts or the Supreme Court of Pakistan. But then how did he manage to win?
There are numerous facts cited by the supporters of Razvi which caused this colossal loss. Amongst them is the fact that the famous case of (SHCBA), reported as PLD 2009 SC 879, wherein over 90 PCO judges of the High Courts and Supreme Court were sacked. This case was spearheaded by Mr Razvi when he was the President of SHCBA. However, Mr Razvi still maintains that this was a big step towards regaining an independent judiciary and termed it as a major success. But the fact still remains that all those who were sacked stood united to oppose him in his SCBA elections.
Another major role was played by the predecessor of Azad, Ms Asma Jehangir, another lawyer with hardly any court appearance. Her only claim to fame is her active role in HRCP. Ms Jehangir, like Azad, was supported by PPP. Ms Jehangir managed to gather the same support for Azad as could be easily seen on all polling stations across the country. The Attorney General of Pakistan was working in favour of Azad at the Islamabad polling station as was Mr Shahadat Awan, the Prosecutor General at Karachi. Numerous Supreme Court lawyers received phone calls from Governor House requesting for Azad’s vote, not excluding the former Law Minister Babar Awan and Governor of Punjab Sardar Latif Khosa who played a major role in Mr Azad’s win.
A random donation of millions of rupees to the district bars, High Court Bar Peshawar, Karachi Bar Association, Punjab Bar Council and Lahore High Court Bar by the prime minister, federal law minister and then by the Punjab governor only days before the SCBA elections have also raised several questions. A country like ours which is begging for financial support from IMF and other countries to help the flood victims and to fight terrorism all of a sudden could afford to donate millions of rupees to bar associations with not more than a few hundred members. The end result was that Razvi lost by approximately 79 votes according to the un-official count.
Surprisingly, the winner from six polling stations, Azad, lost from his home city Karachi where he had practiced law all his life. The result does somewhat reflect that those who knew him well did not want him elected. It also shows that no matter which province’s turn it is to field a candidate, the decision will be taken in Lahore. Thus, the purpose of provincial representation was frustrated.
The active participation of the government in the bar elections shows how important these elections are to them and to the nation. The SCBA during the period of Qazi Anwar had repeatedly highlighted corruption in the country and had supported the decisions of the Supreme Court. Not surprisingly Asma Jehangir had deviated from this path. The bar associations and councils were instrumental in restoring the CJP and ousting a military dictator. The power of the black coat has also been felt by Zardari & Co and in order for him to keep working the way he is, it is absolutely imperative that he controls all the bars so that no one raises any important issue in public. For this the PPP is willing to invest millions of rupees in the bar elections and appoint their own puppets. Once these puppets are installed the government can rest assured that no one will shout the slogans of rule of law and independence of judiciary.
Today the job description of these puppets is simply to malign the judiciary, take their lawyer friends on expensive foreign trips, provide government cases to their friends and in return all they ask is to remain silent and keep their eyes closed.
If the bars are filled with these puppets, the day is not far when vacancies of both bar and bench are decided in the President House and in order to get any sort of relief a litigant has to first engage a PPP-approved lawyer.
The defeat of Rasheed A Razvi will soon be forgotten but it should serve as a wakeup call for all the members of the bar. Soon their survival will depend on whether they support any political party, and if so, which one?
The writer is an advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan.