How could the chief justice know?
‘Pater familias’ – father of the family – is how the Chief Justice of Pakistan had been described and hailed during the challenge to the 18th Constitutional Amendment. While I don’t have the experience myself, I bet being the ‘father’ of any family (let alone the ‘judicial family’) must be an awfully tough job. In fact, I believe this job is so demanding (and his focus as pater familias is so unflinching) that he cannot be faulted for not having noticed the meteoric rise of his son’s wealth or lifestyle over the past three years. So everyone casting shadows at the honourable CJ should just back-off, if not for the sake of logic, then for the sake of ‘saving’ the last bastion of integrity in our land.
Fist, it must be accepted that the honourable CJ, in fidelity to his unflinching impartiality and fair-play, has done two exceptionally courageous deeds in the Dr Arsalan case: 1) he has brought a suo motu case against his own son, and 2) he has recused himself from the bench in demonstration of ‘justice being manifestly seen to be done’. Nothing less could be expected of pater familias.
However, it seems that people never learn from history. It was only five years ago that the first (baseless) episode in this saga came to light, when it was (falsely) alleged that, upon securing an overall C grade in the intermediate examination (a fact), Arsalan Iftikhar was granted admission in Bolan Medical College upon the influence exerted by the chief justice. No one made concession for the fact that, despite his grades, the admission committee of Bolan Medical College could have looked into Arsalan’s eyes, and confronted him in a moment of human honesty to recognise his limitless intelligence to serve as a doctor. And the same could have happened when, years later, Dr Arsalan was promoted as section officer in the health department, only days after his initial appointment.
And once inducted in the government machinery, it was perhaps not very difficult to recognise the potential and acumen of the young man, as a result of which in August of 2005 the ministry of interior issued a bona fide notification appointing Dr Arsalan as Assistant Director (later Deputy Director) in the FIA. This chain of events cannot imply any influence of the chief justice, for it is not like Dr Arsalan was suddenly made the Director General of the FIA. Anyways, God knows that in this country we need our best talent in the security forces of Pakistan that are pitted against the forces of extremism and evil, so it is no surprise that soon after his stellar performance in the FIA, in 2006 Dr Arsalan was poached by the Police Service of Pakistan for permanent induction (with a little bending of the Police Service of Pakistan Rules, 1985). And those who raised hue and cry over all this, culminating in an abominable reference against the chief justice in 2007, were not only trying to villainise the judiciary, but were also trying to destroy the spectacular rise of a young man making his mark in the government service of Pakistan.
It seems only natural that since so much (baseless) controversy concerning the career-path of Dr Arsalan had surrounded the chief justice in 2007 that since then the honorable judge has decided to make a resolute effort of not concerning himself with the professional and career growth of his son. Which is why, we must necessarily believe that over the past three years (the time during which Malik Riaz has allegedly paid Rs 400 million to Dr Arsalan), the chief justice had no idea what his thirty-something-year-old son was doing. He is ‘baligh’ after all, and independent in all respects. Just because he lived in the honorable chief justice’s house (at least up until his marriage this year), does not automatically mean that the honorable chief justice ever asked him where the Gucci cufflinks or the Montecristo cigars came from. In fact, it is only reasonable to assume – given Dr Arsalan’s stellar performance in medical school, FIA and police – that the riches and lavish vacations were a result of him creating a name for himself in whatever he is putting his mind and hands to.
Not just that, but I believe that a man like our chief justice (not that there can be anyone comparable), who is as focused and dedicated to serving the cause of justice with the aim of improving our collective lives, was probably too busy trying to rid Pakistan of all its evils to even notice the Louis Vuitton sunglasses his son was sporting. Over the past three years, the honorable chief justice has barely taken a day-off from work (exceptionally commendable), and therefore cannot be blamed for not knowing (or even asking) where his family had been vacationing during the summer, or who was paying for it. For those who haven’t noticed, the chief justice has had his hands full in bringing the prime minister’s son, Pervaiz Elahi’s son, and so many others to justice for exerting their influence to extort money from people. So while I would never allow Yousaf Raza Gilani, Pervaiz Elahi, Nawaz Sharif or Asif Zardari to ever plead that they did not know what their sons were doing, I cannot allow anyone to believe that the honorable chief justice, over the past three years, even had a slight hint of Arsalan’s doings.
In this country, in the present set of circumstances at least, it is crime – nay a sin – to even imagine that the honorable chief justice could be less than perfect in his professional or personal conduct. And I submit my name as one who does NOT aspire to be a sinner! I fully endorse the viewpoint of countless other brethren of mine in media, politics and the legal community who are taking pains in describing how the chief justice has no fault in the matter, and instead there is a ‘conspiracy’ at play here to malign an infallible institution and a flawless individual. And I make a solemn oath that even if Malik Riaz and his cronies produce the evidence that Kamran Khan claims to have seen, my crusade of carrying the flag of defending our pater familias cannot be deterred by mere credit-card receipts, exorbitant hotel bills, lease agreements or even video recordings. No sir. Never!
The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. He has a Masters in Constitutional Law from Harvard Law School. He can be reached at: [email protected]
Excellent analysis… couldn't have put it better! Well done Mr.Rasool. Hats off to you!
Well done ! TRUTH UNVEILED ………..
The CJ seems on pretty solid ground as far as allegations go –> If Bahria Town has not been helped and he has no money in account he is safe.
However, his name has been sullied forever.
Excellent!!! Arsalan is not the only one who needs a thorough investigation. Iftikhar also needs to be thoroughly investigated. The only way there is possibility of real facts coming to full public view (which unfortunately does not happen in Pakistan) is for Iftikhar to resign forthwith and present himself for investigation. Otherwise, if the matter is put before judges who work under him, justice is the last thing one can expect.
Another point worth consideration is that Iftikhar has withdrawn reluctantly because of Article 4 in the Code of Conduct formulated by him in 2009. Under the same Code of Conduct, other judges are also not expected to be on the bench because all of them know Arsalan very well, at least that he is son of their boss.
This leaves us no choice to send this matter to a Parliamentary Committee which can co-opt some well reputed retired judges (like Fakhruddin G Ibrahim) and representatives of Supreme Court Bar Association and Pakistan Bar Council.
Off the topic comment: What's up with editing team of Pakistan Today? None of the articles are paragraphed. There are at least 2-3 grammatical mistakes in every post! What's going on!? It creates a bad taste reading a quality article…
Excellent!!! Arsalan is not the only one who needs a thorough investigation. Iftikhar also needs to be thoroughly investigated. The only way there is possibility of real facts coming to full public view (which unfortunately does not happen in Pakistan) is for Iftikhar to resign forthwith and present himself for investigation. Otherwise, if the matter is put before judges who work under him, justice is the last thing one can expect.
I knew a gentlemen in the sixties whose father was a judge of the high court and or later supreme court. Well this gentlemen though qualified to be an advocate turned to journalism and never practised law to avoid conflict of interest. Now like insurance agents the kalay Coats need to bring their house to order on this score.
Makes a great reading..thoroughly enjoyed it!
This is the case of (almost) every JUDGE, (almost)every GENERAL,invariably every BEAUROCRAT,every politician !Arslan being a son of a JUDGE on the one hand; and , SON IN LAW of a GENERAL, on the other hand!Who will take them to task !We are not going ; but, have gone to dogs!
With tongue in cheek you have hit the nail on the head.Need isay more other than to invite you to read my own comments on the same subject in the same newspaper.
Pakistan is the land of pure. We are all innocent.
One of your best works ever, thoroughly enjoyed it
From Qazi ul Qazat (chief justice) to Qazi ul Qazak (judge of pirates)
Bravo!! One of the most poignant literary pieces I've had the pleasure of reading in recent times! More power to you!
Thank you, Saad! I respect your tremendous courage for writing this. You have conveyed through this excellent article what was on all our minds. Such is the sad truth of our "Honourable" Chief Justice and his beloved son. I pray that Allah rids Pakistan of such corrupt and lying people. Ameen!
This is absolutely brilliant and bang on target. At the beginning I was inclined to write it off as an 'also ran' kind of article but by the end I was truly impressed. Great job Saad!
Saad, an excellent article written, I am dreading the repurcussions as none of our institutions /so called leaders, heads of instituations are mature enough to handle the truth.
Well done
Saad you did a gud job.your knoeledge is osum!exelent analysis ….
Write about the Pak Steel mill privatization case 2006 if you can. CJ's judgment in that case started the whole ruckus… i've always wondered if it was a really sound judgment based on legal points or Judges trying to act as populist economic policy-makers. I doubt Steel mill would sell for even half the price today vs. what it was getting 6 years back.
mr saad rasool(writer)is more keen on showing his brands knowledge ,so its quite immature on his part.second thing is mr saad 's father was involve in few of the cases which has been heard by CJ .to me that shows bias on writer s part.
Sarcasm supreme. However since one of the commentators has written "Qazi ul Qazat (chief justice) to Qazi ul Qazak (judge of pirates)" I am reminded of an incident which took place in Saudi Arabia about 20 years ago. The then Chief Justice Mr. Afzal Zullah was about to board a plane when the security person sent him back a couple of times – first the belt and shoes, then some other metal object (as the security people nowadays keep sending you back until the machine stops beeping). To this the chief justice asked the protocol person to tell the security person who he was. When this was translated, the simple Saudi police officer on duty said, "How can he be a qazi – he does not have a beard!"
The evidence against Arslan might be unfortunate but cannot and should not be ignored. A lawyer’s support for CJ inspite of evidence, if any, is understandable in view of his job requirement. Which lawyer would want to annoy judiciary and lose cases in Pakistan , especially when these cases are worth millions of rupees in lawyers’ fee. …..It’s a legal family and CJ of course is Pater Familias.
Excellent job!!!!!!So v true v need answeres????? Keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!
im glad atleast some of the posters saw the intended sarcasm, though i dont necessarily agree with all that was said.
Everyone in Pakistan has a hidden agenda. This writer is the son-in-law of Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar (PPP leader and Minister of Water and Power). He is also the son of an ex-police officer who was removed from his post as IG Islamabad after man-handling the chief Justice in 2007. Clearly he has a personal vendetta against the judiciary.
Will there ever be a neutral voice in Pakistan!!!!
Does CJ and Ahmad Mukhtar have a vendetta ? I don't think so – have never heard any type of issue there.
Bravo Saad. Humor and Poignancy! Keep it up. You have a natural, refreshing style.
This is a blatant attempt to confuse the issue and malign the CJP. The issue is the Godfather like criminal activities of Malik Riaz and NOT if CJP knew his son's activities or not. The question should have been asked why did Malik Riaz not file a case against Arsalan and why did he have to use media anchors to spill his guts out? If he had filed the case right in the beginning and if CJP tried to throw the case or protected his son, I hwould have no issue with the assertions of Mr. Saad, who probably has his own axe to grind against CJP and I quote Mr. Rizwan Kirmani here what he commented about Saad… "This writer is the son-in-law of Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar (PPP leader and Minister of Water and Power). He is also the son of an ex-police officer who was removed from his post as IG Islamabad after man-handling the chief Justice in 2007. Clearly he has a personal vendetta against the judiciary." CJP takes suo motto notice only of those issues that become matter of national interest, like this one. I consider this matter a news not because of the flambouyant style of Arsalan but because it has revealed to me what a maffia, headed by Malik Riaz exists in our country and how deep is his penetration. We must ask a simple question, if CJP was corrupt, why would not he take the bait that this maffioso was trying to give him for so long?
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