Ruling out the chances of any ‘adventure’ by the military establishment in the current situation, legal experts said on Wednesday that now the army had become very mature and seasoned, thus it would not take any unconstitutional steps but would explore ways and means to settle the differences with the political government amicably.
However, they said if any such steps were taken, they would be unconstitutional and destructive.
Commenting on the ongoing tension between the government and the army, Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmad dispelled speculations that army might take over the country. He said the army had learnt more from past experiences and now it had become very mature and seasoned, having the potential to deal with every matter diplomatically. He said however that the current confrontation between the government and the army was a bad omen for the country, which was not in a position to afford a coup. A coup would be unconstitutional and the courts would never give it legitimacy, he added.
To a query, he said the sacking of Defence Secretary Lt Gen (r) Khalid Naeem Lodhi was unreasonable and unjustified, as he did not do anything wrong with regard to the submission of affidavits of the army chief and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief on the memo issue with the Supreme Court.
Commenting on the government-army confrontation, which originated with the memo issue, Justice (r) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui said the memo would have to be probed by the Supreme Court at all costs. He said he believed that the military would not topple the elected government, however if it did, it would be unconstitutional and the judiciary would not validate it.
He said the prime minister’s statements about filing of replies by the army and ISI chiefs in the memo case without adopting proper procedure were not correct and the premier had earlier stated that they had submitted their replies through the proper channel.
He said the army chief and the ISI chief, being respondents in the memo case, had submitted their replies to the Defence Ministry, which submitted them to the apex court through the attorney general, and the premier had admitted it.
Former Supreme Court Bar Association vice president Ikram Chaudhry told Pakistan Today the government would never remove the army and ISI chiefs, however if it did, it would be illegitimate and would be harmful to the country.
Commenting on the confrontation, Dr Khalid Ranjha said it should immediately be defused as the country could not afford it. To a question, he said he believed that the army would not attempt an ‘adventure’, however if it did it, it would be unconstitutional and would never be validated by the courts.
