The Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court has got it right. In a bizarre case of registration of fake FIRs against a contractor for, among other allegations, having stolen his own materials from the site of the work, he admonished the Chief Minister, Punjab – the one who prides himself for ‘good governance’ – that he could not be given a free hand “for issuing whimsical orders that undermined the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law”. The Honourable Court observed this after the managing director of TDCP had deposed before it with regard to having received orders from the Chief Minister for registering fake cases against the contractor.
When rulers, elected through a so-called ‘democratic’ process, take the law in their hands and start treating the province as their personal fiefdom, such instances are witnessed with regularity. In an environment where officers are appointed to key positions after determining their personal loyalty to the rulers, quality of administration begins to degenerate. And, when non-elected representatives are given no-holds-barred sway over administrative matters, the nuances of governance disintegrate leaving behind a denuded skeleton that moves without any sensitivity to the interests of the province or its people. Such is the ‘transparent’ style of governance that the Punjab Chief Minister takes pride in practising.
While he and his sycophants are quick at disparaging the unconstitutional manoeuvres of the federal government which keep coming like a hail of bullets, he practises the same with abandon within his own domain. His patronage of officers who are on record for having attempted to sabotage the process of enquiry into massive embezzlement and his penchant for inducting into his administration, as press secretaries and consultants, through a non-transparent process, individuals who have been rendered suspect because of alleged involvement in financial malpractices has been well known. Obviously, one can get away with corrupt practices only with the connivance and support of a coterie of officers who are well-versed in the trade. The Punjab Chief Minister appears to have the ‘right’ team at his disposal.
An example that would substantiate my case is the manner in which a place in Gulberg, Lahore has been cordoned off to the extreme discomfort of other residents of the area who have approached me to bring this to the notice of the concerned. The place is located opposite a public park. The security procedures began with the erection of barriers on either side of the concerned house with concrete pillars that were manned by police personnel round the clock. Even people living adjacent to or in close proximity of the house were subjected to thorough checks at the barriers. Subsequently, a fibreglass hut was constructed in the public park with a bathroom facility. Then, another hut came up. Recently, three concrete structures have been erected at the three corners of the tri-angular park with fibreglass shades for security personnel standing guard. The electricity connections appear to be illegally secured. Police mobile canteen delivers food at the site on a regular basis. My questions and those of the residents are: what is the status of this house? Is this another of the umpteen CM secretariats of a poor province? Who are these people who are guarding this house? Who is paying for their expenses? Is the Chief Minister doing it, or are they being paid out of the provincial exchequer? Why is the right of way being denied or made difficult to the residents of the area? Why has a public park been turned into a security zone that children can no longer use and where they cannot play their games? Will PHA respond with facts? Will the LHC take notice?
This is just one more instance of the law being made subservient to the convenience of those who occupy positions of power. There is much talk of accountability, there is much haranguing about the rule of law at public functions but, when it comes to the brass tacks, the collective good is always sacrificed at the altar of the Chief Minister’s convenience as also of his lackadaisical whims.
The malaise is not confined to the Punjab alone. The federal government remains a horrific manifestation of living in constant defiance of the orders of the Supreme Court. Each time the confrontation nears a calamitous peak, the Supreme Court appears to be backing off to avoid the dreaded clash of the institutions. Gradually, the focus is riveted on one single point: how long the judiciary would continue to provide space to the executive for its unlawful undertakings and responses?
The government may stand effectively maligned, but some of the blame is unavoidably shifting to the apex judiciary for the prevalent environment where its adjudications are being openly reviled. It may have taken a while for the Lahore High Court to discover the whimsical aspect of the Chief Minister’s directives, but how long will the Supreme Court take to discover the vile and malevolent intent of the federal government? There is no visible evidence that remedial measures are being undertaken towards solving a host of problems that the country is confronted with. Instead, there is credible evidence that the evil is being perpetuated and the evil-doers further empowered.
The inherently undemocratic culture of the ruling elite that comes draped in ‘democracy’ is the core factor propelling degenerative trends in the society. Whether it be the Punjab CM’s whims or the federal government’s wilful and persistent intransigence, time is fast running out for effective and forceful preventive measures to be put in place.
The writer is a political analyst. He can be reached at [email protected]
