The PPP may finally see due process. Though it has of course taken nearly 30 years to get here. Yet in a delicious twist of irony, the Chief Justice has made it incumbent on this political set-up to ensure that the 2012 Supreme Court verdict on the Asghar Khan case is upheld. In other words, Nawaz Sharif, who himself has been implicated in rigging the 1990 elections that robbed Benazir and her party of the popular vote, now must sit back and watch as his own does the needful. The Asghar Khan case centres on the political scandal that saw the then ISI chief Lt Gen (rtd) Asad Durrani and then COAS Gen (rtd) Aslam Baig bankroll a plan to the cool tune of Rs 140 million to ensure that the electoral process and the civilian government were controlled by the establishment. The matter only came to light when Air Marshal (rtd) Asghar Khan wrote to the then CJP to inform him of the unlawful disbursement of public money and its misuse towards political ends. That Justice Saqib Nisar has given the government just one week to come up with a procedural mechanism to try former representatives of the security apparatus who brutally crushed the people’s will is as important as it is courageous. It somewhat challenges the impression that is currently being peddled by the former Prime Minister that the judicial activism that is being conducted on Justice Nisar’s watch does not extend to the military establishment. According to the apex court 141-page verdict of 2012, both the accused former generals of the armed forces defamed their institution. However, it stressed that handing over cash to certain politicians comprised an individual act, as opposed to one approved at the institutional level. Yet despite what may or may not have been a watered-down version of accountability — the PPP did not use its time in office to pursue the end result that would have seen the both Durrani and Baig tried for high treason. This is understandable given that the party was still reeling from Benazir’s assassination; something that she herself had seemingly predicted. Indeed, she had warned that if she fell victim to foul play, the finger of accusation should be pointed towards certain establishment members, including Gen (rtd) Pervez Musharraf. The latter to this day remains a declared absconder in her murder case. Be that as it may, things may be changing in Pakistan. Musharraf is being tried for treason, albeit in absentia. This itself was a first and is believed to have prompted the current stand-off between the ruling PMLN and the military. Another first was the Panama verdict that saw the SC send home an elected PM on corruption charges. Thus the promise of the Asghar Khan case finally coming to trial may well make it a hat-trick for Pakistani justice. Though all bets are off for the time being given what we know about the repercussions of the Panama verdict. But, for now, the country may be on the right path. Even if it did take a generation to get here. * Published in Daily Times, May 10th 2018.