Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial on Thursday constituted a five-judge larger bench to hear the dual office case against President Asif Ali Zardari. The bench comprises Justice Bandial, Justice Nasir Saeed Sheikh, Justice Sheikh Najmul Hasan, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah. The petition against Asif Ali Zardari holding dual offices has been filed by Azhar Siddique.
Siddique had contended that the court in its May 12, 2011 judgment on dual office held by the president had ruled that he should not use the highest office for political purposes. He argued that the president had committed contempt of court by not disassociating himself from his political office. Earlier, the court said it expected the president to relinquish political activities by September 5 in accordance with an order issued by a larger bench of the LHC on May 12, 2011.
What will happen next?
There is no ban on holding dual offices by Zardari. Umar Bandial should pay more attention to providing quick and easy justice to the common man. Following the line of Chaudhry Double PCO is far from it. He should take steps to eradicate rampant corruption in judiciary. Just imagine, in order to get a case fixed for hearing before Umar Bandial or any other judge/bench of LHC requires bribes of thousands of rupees. As head of LHC, it is his responsibility to solve this and so many other problems. Last, but not least, we must remember that Jinnah was President of Muslim League and Governor-General simultaneously. The only difference is that he was not an elected Governor-General whereas Zardari is a duly elected President. If his opponents cannot face him politically, the judiciary should not gang up with them. Obviously, judges do not gang up for free.
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