Supreme Courts Judgments relating to people's rights have always been violated

            It is my good luck or bad luck that I am also L.L.B as well as M.A. in Political Science being a Primary School Teacher. Both the subjects have got extraordinary significance in the recent years. Before LLB, I was lamenting the political situations in the Country but now when I got the LLB degree and compared every act of Government and its institutions I found that the first law breaker is either the Government itself or its institutions. No one has any regard either for the law or for the Court’s rulings. The Officers issues notifications as if they are sitting in vacuum feeling no control from the outside.

            Recently I was busy in the preparation of arguments for my case in the Service Tribunal I came across with a large number of such Judgments which were related to the rights of the people especially the lower graded employees and which have not been implemented in letter and spirit and from which the common man having no relation with law is not aware.

            Then on 12-1-2010, while I was busy in arguments in the Tribunal, one of the advocates who had no concern with my case nor he was representing anyone there in my case, said to the Judges in these words about my case: “This case which this man is discussing before you is a Pandora box. If it was opened, it will be difficult to control the situations”.

            Neither the Tribunal nor the Government Pleaders contradicted my assertions on the points but due to wanting of sanctions of the department for the move-overs from the lower pay scales to higher pay scales, therefore, my case was remanded to the department.

            On the return way, I was thinking about the events took place and especially the remarks of the advocate about opening of Pandora Box. It means that there are many issues which are either in the notice of the people or are not in their notice which need the prompt attention for the solution of many problems.

            The next question before a common person like me is that on whom we should rely for the implementation of the Judgments of the Superior Courts for the everlasting solution of the grievances? It is very difficult for every person to go to the Court to receive his right or to ask the Court to implement a particular judgment for the solution of his problem. If we ask the Armed Forces of the Country to help the Superior Courts, then this experiment also cannot be effective because for most of the time of the independence, Army remained in the Governmental power but still the common man was not benefited from the valuable judgments and rulings of the Superior Courts. The recent Judgment on sugar is the best example on this point.

            When a person does not know anything, then he leads a very satisfied life. My other colleagues in the Education Department lead very peaceful lives because they do not know that the Finance Department NWFP has issued the Notification partly in violation of the rulings of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. They silently and obediently accepted the verdict of the notification but when I knew that how the Finance Department can dare to issue a notification in contravention of the Supreme Court’s ruling, I challenged the notification. The officials of the Tribunal informed me that I was the first Teacher who has brought such like case in the Tribunal. It means that the whole teaching community does not know that how the Finance Department has harmed them and have fraudulently deprived of their rights in the presence of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

            My purpose was not to show my gallantry or juristic mentality but to show the readers that it is not only the verdict on the NRO but also on every issue which is near to the hearts of the people, is trampled by those who have control of the men of guns and powder.

            Personally, I am against of every corrupt politician, corrupt general or corrupt Judge. But the real point is that who will say and how will say that this politician, general or Judge is corrupt. The NRO has been declared discriminatory law by the Supreme Court after months of discussions and arguments in technical terms after giving provisions from the Constitution but the ordinary man had already declared it discriminatory because the ordinary man saw that after the meeting of the big ones in a foreign Country, this law was issued.

            In what terms we may take the affidavits of the respective departments in the Courts when they were opposing the rights of the untrained teachers in the Courts and now when they issued the notifications, they declared the teachers entitled to the right of annual increment from the date of their appointment but have denied the Back Benefits of their past service!

            In my opinion, those officers who submitted false affidavits to the Courts are liable to be prosecuted but it is not done any where and that is why the poor person is persecuted.

            In my opinion, there should also be a monitoring cell in the Supreme Court to supervise the implementation of all the rulings of the Supreme Court in every Judgment, especially relating to the Government Departments, both at Federal and Provincial. It is not possible for every Government Servant to know the rulings of the Supreme Court about any service matter because it is very technical job and can be done after LLB. Those departments which are being found in non-implementation, their responsible officials should be properly punished.

            I am also against of this concept that only Zardari or any other be targeted and the Court Judgment be used as tool for political or personal vengeance. In this Country only Zardari is not accused person. Every one has made money according to his influence and power with certain exceptions. Accountability is necessary but discriminatory accountability is unacceptable to anyone.

Manzoor Ahmad Yousafzai

Monday, January 18, 2010.

The top brass and the untenable political logjam
Sunday, January 17, 2010
JCSC press release says much between the lines; meetings involving civilians, khakis and Americans discuss unsustainable uncertainty; will Zardari be allowed to appoint his own ISI chief in March and to announce new Army chief in June?

By Shaheen Sehbai

WASHINGTON: A series of back-to-back meetings of the military high command, major players of the civil and khaki establishment topped up with an exclusive session of the Army high-ups with the Americans, have all highlighted the almost unsustainable uncertainty created by the current political milieu in Pakistan.

Some of the military meetings have even publicly admitted that the domestic situation was discussed in detail and, almost like the GHQ response to the Kerry-Lugar Bill, the press release issued after the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee meeting carried comments which were of immense importance and possible implications.

The JCSC release said: “The committee deliberated in detail complex internal security situation... It expressed satisfaction on the state of preparedness of the armed forces of Pakistan and had a deliberate discussion on various measures for effectively dealing with the assessed security challenges confronting the country.” (Italics added)

Whatever the official press releases say, no one can deny that the main underlying subject of concern in all these meetings was the political situation and the state of confrontation between institutions which a beleaguered president has created by refusing to present himself before the law, by politicising his personal corruption and by trying to divide the country on ethnic and regional lines, all to save himself from accountability. This is now being treated as a major security challenge to the country.

The situation is getting unbearable because the petty politics of personal preservation, using the highest and the lowest offices of the state, has thrown the country’s security and military establishment into confusion which can create havoc given the massive internal threats and external challenges.

The greatest concern is that our fighters on the diplomatic and military battle fronts are not getting the internal political cohesion and strength which is desperately needed to face domestic terrorists and external pressures to do more, although this terminology may not be in use but whatever language is used carries the same message.

The long sessions of military generals, some with their own boys and some with civilians present, have probably chalked out their strategy if this political fog does not clear soon. When the JCSC officially states that a “deliberate discussion on various measures” was held, it says between the lines that various scenarios have been discussed and what to do has been decided.

Probably the broad outlines of the decisions have also been conveyed to the American decision makers as they too are more than worried about the non-serious attitude of top elected leaders when the country needed mature thinking, concerted efforts and coordination, instead of irresponsible jockeying for power and playing to the galleries.

The prolonging situation is causing hysteria in some circles because critical deadlines are approaching for major decisions yet the message being sent by the ruling PPP is that they will keep playing games, to gain as much time as they can, until either they are forced out of power or they consolidate their grip on key institutions.

The complex situation, not mentioned in the military press releases but obviously referred to between the lines, can be summarised as:

- What will happen if the Supreme Court’s judgments are not implemented by the Executive branch.
- What will happen if the government continues to defy the Supreme Court on appointment of new judges and other matters.

- What will the GHQ do if the Supreme Court asks for Army help under Article 190 of the Constitution.

- Will the mobilisation of Sindhi forces by the PPP, or the so-called Sindh card, be a serious threat to the federation, if Zardari forces it upon the nation.

- What will the PML-N and other political forces do as the PPP is not serious in removing the 17th Amendment and is playing for time.

- Should this non-serious and corruption-tainted leadership of the PPP be allowed to insult the intelligence of the nation by appointing and promoting leaders accused of taking bribes.

- Should this leadership be permitted to appoint its own ISI chief in March when the current incumbent is to retire, may be a personal corrupt crony of the president.

- Should the situation be allowed to drag on, until say June, when the politically shrewd Zardari makes a premature announcement to replace the current Army chief, retiring in November, in an effort to turn him into a lame-duck and create a rift within the Army.

- What happens in Karachi if the PPP leadership tries to play games with the MQM and takes over the main power base of the party by appointing its own administrators and then delaying the local bodies elections or rigging them.

- Who looks after the security situation when top leadership has no credibility and is involved in court cases, seeking bails and providing sureties.

- Who would mobilise the nation to take a tough and independent stand against the US policy in Afghanistan, now that a surge is imminent and drone attacks have, and will, increase in ferocity and numbers.

- Is Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ready to go down with his president, should the courts and justice system catches up with him. What then?

- Is Mian Nawaz Sharif or the PML-N ready to let the country go down just to protect some corrupt politicians who have been elected by sheer stroke of luck, chance, and trickery, in the name of saving the democratic set up.

- Is there a serious threat to democracy if a political leader is caught stealing and courts convict him or try to get the looted money back.

These, and many more related issues, have been discussed at all the forums and broad policy decisions appear to have been taken. How will these decisions be seen and felt by the nation will depend on the pace of the various processes which are continuing and will go on.

The most awaited detailed judgment in the NRO case will probably trigger the series of events that will unfold. The PPP has so far refused to implement the judgment and it is set to continue the defiance. If the Supreme Court fails to get its judgments implemented, then the entire people’s movement for an independent judiciary will come to a naught. That no one will want, so the next logical step is for the SC to ask for help, which will have to come, as required under the Constitution.

Even then if the PPP defiance continues, the coalition partners in parliament will have to decide whether they want a Zardari dictatorship or rule of law and the establishment will again get the chance to play the decisive role in influencing their judgments.

If after all the turmoil and turbulence it appears that the present parliament is unable to give a stable majority government, the only option will be to go back to the people for mid-term polls.
The tragedy is that in all these crucial matters, the attitude of the elected PPP leadership is despicable and pathetic. The PPP claims to be a federal party but is behaving like a petty opposition group, unable to make up its mind whether it should play a sobering and mature national political role or confine itself to a small nationalist group in Sindh.

The bottom-line is that everyone who is concerned knows what is going on and no one will allow the present policy of Zardari to succeed. He thinks he will take everybody down, if he goes down himself, but no body is going with him as he as to clear himself of corruption charges before claiming to be a moral or national leader of a province or the country. His election as president has not washed away the charges against him. In fact he has, by his actions, reinforced his image of a non-serious, happy-go-lucky, not too worried about moral issues guy, who has nothing to lose. This image of the president of Pakistan is untenable.