The Supreme Court on Thursday disposed of suo motu notice regarding the alleged graft case against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar, ordering the Attorney general to take strict legal action against Arsalan, Malik Riaz and Riaz’s son-in-law Salman Ali Khan according to the law as “they might have committed illegal acts”.
Another SC bench, meanwhile, heard a petition challenging the ruling of the National Assembly speaker on the disqualification of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and it is likely that the court will decide the fate of the prime minister today (Friday).
During the hearing of the case against the speaker’s ruling, harsh words were exchanged between Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and Attorney General for Pakistan Irfan Qadir. This triggered a ruckus in the courtroom and lawyers started sloganeering in favor of the chief justice. Some angry lawyers also moved to round up the AG, however, the situation eased out upon the CJ’s intervention. A two-member bench of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain in its order directed Attorney General for Pakistan Irfan Qadir to take strict legal action against real estate tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain, son of SC chief justice Dr Arsalan Iftikhar and Salman Ali Khan according to the law as they “might have committed any illegal acts”.
“It is our expectation that he (Attorney General) will set the machinery of the state in motion so that all those who may have committed any illegal acts, including Malik Riaz Hussain, Dr Arsalan, Salman Ali Khan, etc are pursued and brought to book with the full force and vigor of the law,” said the order. Justice Jawwad S Khawaja read out the written order in the open court. “We, as judges, should be the last people to draw premature conclusions which are required to be proved through evidence,” said Justice Khawaja. “Malik Riaz, Dr Arsalan or Salman Ali Khan are thus entitled to due process and fair trial. Article 10-A of the Constitution has now codified this principle of due process in the form of a fundamental right”.
Giving reasons, Justice Khawaja said a matter of public importance in this case was the aspersion cast on the independence and integrity of the superior judiciary of the country.
He said Malik Riaz had admitted in writing that the judiciary had been, and remains, ill-disposed to the grant of favours, despite his own efforts to the contrary.
“To put it simply, even a resourceful person such as Malik Riaz had been forced to concede failure in his attempt to compromise the integrity and independence of the judiciary, despite the alleged payment of 340 million rupees,” he added.
About role of media in the whole event, the judge wrote in the order that the series of events which comprised the run-up to this suo motu case also raised concerns about issues of media law and ethics. “It is indeed sad that the people of Pakistan were, for a number of days, held hostage to a fear about the independence and integrity of their country’s superior judiciary, on the basis of what has turned out be an utterly baseless allegation, withdrawn now by the same person who is alleged to have started it”.
He said the ethic and legal framework of the media required fairness and objectivity; it required that journalists conduct due diligence before reporting any news so that rumours and insinuations were filtered out, particularly in matters of grave significance such as ones arising in this case.
“Even when they have come across particular information, fair conduct requires it is checked and rechecked. From the statements filed by certain media persons in court the requisite due diligence prima facie, appears not to have been undertaken. Had this been done, the concerned media persons would have found out what has been ascertained by us with very little effort.” He said Dr Arsalan and his conduct should have, from the very beginning, been kept separate and distinct from the integrity and independence of the judiciary.
About documents provided by Malik Riaz with his concise statement, the judge said it were related only to 4.5% of the total money allegedly spent on behalf of Malik Riaz. The rest remained unaccounted for.
Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, the other member of the bench, also added a short note saying that although family members of public functionaries were, properly speaking, not performing state functions, the alleged facts of this case highlight the necessity of extreme caution and discretion in their private and public dealings and conduct.
Meanwhile, a three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the case of the NA speaker’s ruling.
Advocate AK Dogar, whilst presenting his arguments, said though Prime Minister Gilani was disqualified by the Supreme Court of Pakistan, he was still running public office.
He said that PM Gilani deliberately insulted the court, and that the speaker’s ruling was against the seven-member bench’s verdict.
Gilani’s counsel, Aitzaz Ahsan, said he would like to submit the power of attorney on the behalf of his client.
The chief justice said the court did not want to prolong the judgment of the case, and that Dogar should only highlight legal points involved in the case.
The hearing was later adjourned until today (Friday).
SC orders stern action against Arsalan, Riaz, Salman
