Daily Times

Justice Nisar’s tenure as Chief Justice went contrary to all that was known about him previously. Instead of being the cautious judicial conservative that he had been, he turned out to be an activist chief judge who intruded into every sphere of public policy, beyond what some argue is mandated by the constitution. In the process,his critics feel that no real progress was made in what is the most important function of the Supreme Court: the superintendence of the judiciary down to the lowest rungs. These people believe that the Chief Justice showing up and harassing a Civil Judge on job in Sindh does not amount to superintendence.  I once thought similarly and, therefore, errantly but then I realized that Supreme Court judges are the recipients of divine favour and infinite wisdom. Much has been written about the pendency of cases and the new Chief Justice has – for at least one year – a great responsibility to discharge.  One is in no position to offer advice to the apex court on how to do its job.  We should all just stop writing useless op-eds in newspapers and let them do their job.

Therefore, I must freely admit that I was wrong to be despondent. Everything is just as it is supposed to be. The real issue with Pakistan’s justice system, I mistakenly thought largely because of my naivety and inexperience, was the inordinate delay in civil proceedings especially.  This, I thought, was caused by a deliberate misinterpretation of the civil procedure code as well as inexcusable behaviour of lawyers themselves in seeking adjournments to delay matters. Less than 10 minutes away by car from the Supreme Court of Pakistan is the F-8 Markaz, home to a magnificent shanty town comprising chambers of lawyers and judges dispensing justice that I once thought looked more like a medieval village from the times of King Alfred the Great in the 9th century than any modern court complex. Naïve little me did not get the simple elegance of a time gone by which reminds us denizens of this fair and modern city that there were generations of men and women who toiled hard for centuries. How lucky are we to work in such environs.In my despondency, I actually had the temerity to get upset that no work has been done there for several weeks because both judges and lawyers are on strike.  They have their reasons after all.

Let us suspend cynicism once and for all, just as the spokesman of Pakistan’s finest institution told us to and see only the positives in this beautiful land of ours.

Let us suspend cynicism once and for all, just as the spokesman of Pakistan’s finest institution told us to and see only the positives in this beautiful land of ours. Take for instance the newly sworn-in well-intentioned, truly visionary and holy cabinet of the Federal Capital’s bar association, which now includes a first rank jurist famous for kissing the now departed murderer of a governorand who proudly displays the picture of the act on their social media.  A proud moment it is indeed for the members of Islamabad Bar who deserve a slow clap for their choice.  Thanks largely to the general atmosphere of godly fear and divine retribution that the Federal Capital has brought to bear so decisively, all cynical and critical voices have been silenced and even I shall dare not say more than wishing the Islamabad Bar well in its future endeavours, so as to not say something foolish and beyond my humble station in life. I am sure they will make great strides in establishing rule of law in this Federal Capital of ours under its new visionary leadership. I do hope that other professionals would follow their lead.

Who wouldn’t want to see doctors establish their clinics on the grounds and parking lots of PIMS Hospital?  Why stop there? Accountants should make their offices outside every high rise in Islamabad, making access to accountancy services easy for every business in Islamabad.  Teachers can establish their tuition centers on the cricket and football grounds in every government owned school. Who needs sports, which are an utter waste of time. That way poor students can go right from class to their tuition centre.  Imagine how revolutionary this would be in terms of service delivery. The lawyers of Islamabad are lighting up a new path, which every professional in Pakistan must follow. Every professional should have the right to build his or her own office wherever he or she can find space.  This is the way of Islamabad, our planned capital city in the proud Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The lawyers have shone a bright light and it is for the rest of Islamabad and indeed the rest of Pakistan to follow.

So we must focus on the positives always and forever.  If the Supreme Court sends Prime Ministers home, it must only be acting as a counter-majoritarian institution.  If the former Chief Justice decided that superintendence of hospitals was more important than that of lower judiciary, he must have been right because he knows better.  After all, there is no such thing as a Supreme Parliament or a Supreme Executive or a Supreme Prime Minister.  There is only a Supreme Court, the reservoir of all earthly wisdom and true justice.  After all, even Churchill said that it is only when courts function that democracy is saved.  In our case, Supreme Court also saves us from democracy when it gets out of control and forgets its limits.

May our Supreme Court always go from strength to strength and may all our Chief Justices get to hear chants of “Chief Justice teray jaannisar, be-shumar be-shumar.” This is what the people want and this is more precious than any written compact that we may have in this country.  More power to the Supreme Court which is truly a people’s court.  Hail to the Chief.

The writer is a practicing lawyer and was a visiting fellow at Harvard Law School in Cambridge MA, USA

Published in Daily Times, January 21^st 2019.