The Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) Thursday said the PPP-led government was building momentum for a new phase of clash with judiciary by obstructing the normal working of the Supreme Court while utilising all possible means, including non implementation of the court orders.
LHCBA President Asghar Ali Gill said this with reference to the NICL scam at a press conference held at the bar’s Karachi Hall. Gill said since its inception, the government was opposed to the judiciary because it came into power on the basis of NRO. He cited the examples of sensitive cases like those related to NRO and Haj and NICL scams to prove his point and said honest officers like Zafar Qureshi, who cooperated with the Supreme Court, were either transferred or removed from their posts to maintain a hostile posture towards the judiciary.
The bar president condemned the anti-judiciary steps taken by the government and lauded the independent and fair working of courts despite negative tactics being used by the government. He said the bar associations were united with the judiciary and would always do so like they did during the lawyers’ movement for restoration of independent judiciary under Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
He warned if the government did not mend it ways and change its hostile attitude towards judiciary, they in the consultation with the general house of the LHCBA would devise and announce a plan of action against the government. He said the lawyers had given sacrifices for judiciary and they were to repeat the same against all odds. Answering a question, Asghar said it was true that the chief executive of the country had all the powers to make transfers and posting but when such decisions were executed with bad intentions the courts had right to interfere.
He said transfer of an officer, at a time when he was helping the court, was a glaring example of the anti-judiciary stance adopted by the government.
The current tension in Pakistan between Government and judiciary is the direct result of unconstitutional judicial activism and aggression by Iftikhar Chaudhry. Looking at Pakistan’s political landscape, one doesn’t have to be a rocket scientist to know what is going on between Iftikhar Chaudhry, GEO TV and Nawaz/Shahbaz Sharif and regretfully, I also know that it is not good for the country. The current government, which was elected democratically, is the target of pro-Taliban hate mongers and unfortunately for Pakistan, these forces of darkness and mayhem have found an willing ally in Iftikhar Chaudhry. But, any effort to destabilize the government would be considered an act of war, disguised as activism by the majority, especially in smaller provinces. And it doesn’t matter who is pulling the strings behind the scene– it is time to break the vicious cycle of musical chair that has been going on thanks to successive, but unnecessary ‘interventions’ by generals in Pakistan for decades. Otherwise, Pakistan would continue to be considered a failed state, a corrupt state, and a state which is not capable of producing competent generals or judges.
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