Daily Times

Malik Riaz Hussain is a real estate developer and dealer, and is one of the wealthiest men in the country. He has allegedly spread money to holders of the highest public office, politicians of all hues and colours, bureaucrats, diplomats, and some even in the media. He has instigated an ugly scandal implicating Arsalan Iftikhar, son of Mr Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice (CJ) of Pakistan, and subsequently Justice Chaudhry himself. He started out by declaring that he had extended benefits, including cash payments, to Arsalan in return for his undertaking to influence his father in Malik Riaz’s favour in cases against him that were to be heard in the Supreme Court (SC). In fact, he did not even try to influence his father and thus broke his promise. The CJ took notice of Malik Riaz’s accusations in the media, summoned the parties concerned and asked two of his colleagues to conduct an inquiry.

Malik Riaz submitted that his presence in the court was needless because there was no case to be heard. Subsequently, he held a press conference where he launched a massive attack against Justice Chaudhry. He alleged that the judge had held several secret meetings with him in the dark of the night. Arsalan accompanied his father to some of these meetings. He implied that Justice Chaudhry had been privy to his son’s dealings with him and thus became a party to them.

This was a weird outburst. He did not say what, if anything, had transpired at these meetings or if there had been any kind of a bargain or deal. If none of this happened, these meetings had been inconsequential. Another version has it that Malik Riaz visited Justice Chaudhry at his home during his suspension from office. This was a time when the judge received those who came to wish him well. During one of these visits, he offered his assistance to the movement that the lawyers had launched for the independence of the judiciary. Justice Chaudhry responded that this suggestion should be directed to those who were managing this campaign.

Malik Riaz claims that the benefits done to Arslan had cost him Rs 340 million (34 crores), but that the latter has not delivered the services he had promised. Ordinarily, the thing to do would be for him to sue Arsalan for breach of faith. I suppose that was not feasible because the deal involved an attempt to corrupt the SC. There is another way of reacting to this situation. For a billionaire, Rs 340 million is an insignificant sum of money. One may wonder why he got so agitated over its loss. It could have been a play, enacted at the behest of third parties who are powerful players in the Pakistani political arena, and who have no use for an independent judiciary. That is very likely to be the case.

The next order of business would be to ask who these parties might be. In looking for an instigator, we might ask who had been dissatisfied with the court’s recent verdicts or observations. Mr Gilani’s government openly defied some of them and evaded or ignored others. The prime minister himself has been cited for contempt of court and punished. The court has admonished the secret agencies (ISI, MI) for taking away allegedly undesirable persons without the due process of law. The army chief has also been criticised for neglecting to keep the intelligence agencies out of lawlessness. President Zardari is unhappy with the restraints that the court imposes on the government’s arbitrariness. Any of these centres of power could conceivably have encouraged Malik Riaz to launch his vile attack.

Granted that Malik Riaz is one of the wealthiest men in the country; other wealthy men may know him. The same may be true of those who have been the recipients of his largesse. Most of the rest of us had never heard of him. I have checked with several of my friends in Pakistan and found that none of them had heard of him either. We know that Mr Nawaz Sharif and Mr Asif Ali Zardari are fabulously wealthy. We know of them because they are politicians and public figures, which Malik Riaz is not. He has been unleashed upon us for the purpose of demeaning the SC and its chief. He has been assigned this mission because he is not only enormously wealthy but also powerful in that a great many persons in government, politics, and the professions are indebted to him. He may feel that he can get away with any wickedness to which he may choose to resort.

It should be instructive to see how the major political forces in the country have reacted to Malik Riaz’s scandalous enterprise. Imran Khan, head of the PTI, has condemned it unequivocally and declared that he and his party stand with the CJ. He has described the SC and its chief as the indispensable bulwarks against corruption, whose fall will spell doom for all of us. He sees the attack on the CJ as a conspiracy hatched by self-serving individuals in high places, including the president and the prime minister. Mian Nawaz Sharif has rejected Malik Riaz’s contentions, albeit in more cautious and milder language as is his custom. The PPP has chosen to remain silent. The ANP and MQM have expressed support for the court but they are not agitated over Malik Riaz’s ‘blast’. Most of the media people have denounced him and his sponsors. They are causing the impression that the vast majority of the people in Pakistan are squarely behind the CJ and the SC.

If Malik Riaz had wanted to lower the SC’s status in this country’s governance, his mission has failed. It would be no exaggeration to say that the court and Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry have come out of this crisis stronger than ever. On the other hand, if the patrons of Malik Riaz had intended not so much to downgrade the judiciary as to create a drama that would divert public attention away from their own failings, they may have succeeded. Malik Riaz and his mischief, and its aftermath will probably dominate the news and talk shows for a while, but that may not be for long. It is possible also that if this affair becomes an issue in the coming election, it will not work to the ruling party’s advantage.

The writer is professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts and can be reached at anwarsyed@cox.net