With Musharraf driven into the dock, the calls for accountability of the erstwhile Lord Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, including a bluster for his hanging by Altaf Bhai, have stirred some new speculations about his future course. A writ by Shahid Orakzai for his implication in the memo case was actually already filed in the Islamabad High Court. The reaction at his departure from the apex court was also an equally amazing contrast to his restoration in 2009, reminding of the dramatic damnation of the Patriot, “Thus I entered Brescia and thus I leave”, penned by Robert Browning. Contrary to the tempest raised by firebrand lawyers, politicians, protesters and the media for his restoration, there were no farewell feasts or an ecstatic outpouring of adios and ovations.
A dinner arranged by the Sindh High Court Bar Association in his honour was cancelled. The Balochistan Bar, despite his adopted domicile of the province that enabled his scion Arsalan Chaudhry’s induction into medical college, the subsequent slide into the civil service and mystifying mega riches, offered no valedictory wreaths. The Punjab Bar, despite being dominated by Nawaz League loyalists who trumpet a special credit for his restoration, enjoying overt indulgence during his incumbency and having Rana Sanaullah, his closest kin, as its law minister, remained equally glacial. Even the taste of the solitary dinner hosted by a group of lawyers was soured by an internal spat in the Supreme Court Bar Association, suspension of the host by its president, Kamran Murtaza, and queries concerning the source of funds for financing the feast. The atmosphere at the full court reference held by his brother judges had almost the same ominous streak, presaging a different mood and attitude of the apex court. The words on this occasion attributed to his eminent lordship Justice Ijaz that the “court would no longer dance to the beat of the drum” evidently seemed its succinct summation. The “drum” in this prescient phrase, of course, may be interpreted to imply a departure from the suo motu storms kicked up by media blabber, independence from the khaki cadres known for their drills and drums regimen or from the tune of their own chief to keep clobbering some selected cadres. The remarks, notwithstanding their nuances, verily promise a less partisan and less controversial Supreme Court (SC) struggling to counter the most contentious legacy left by its retired lord.
Controversies, contradictions and conflicting stances actually have been writ across his career. The way they would shape and unfold in his new phase have already been puzzling most of his fans and detractors. Speculations ranged from an unruffled retirement retreat, writing memoirs revealing the saga of his sacking, struggle and restoration to avid political activism to recapture some new stellar slot. Some idea about his future evidently can be surmised from the traits and the timeline of his judicial trail. His devotion to democracy and reaction against General Zia’s most macabre and ruthless dictatorship, and its whiplash against the dissenters and the devotees for democracy, figures nowhere in his early career. No streaks of denunciation or defiance against dictatorship similarly were seen during the next martial law as his elevation to the SC and as its chief, was also made by Musharraf. It obviously also demonstrated his oath, involvement and the allegiance to endorse his coup and carry out his commands. Yet he also elicited impressive foresight to fathom growing domestic disenchantment, the global disapproval of the dictator and the pressure piling on him to accommodate really popular politicians like Benazir. Coupled with this, reportedly, were also internal dissension in the establishment and the innuendos supporting him to stand up to the dictator, which led to his famous defiance and dismissal. The rest is now too familiar to recount.
The reaction, rallies and the media frenzy during the movement for his restoration flung him to a new fortune of fame and flashlights. He seemed to relish and ride the rage, and lend a new hype to it through a string of news-breaking suo motus and spate of observations, overtures and remarks that sometimes even spelt the type of decisions well before the evidence and arguments had been finalised in the court. “We will give such a decision” (hum aisa faisla daingay) actually will be remembered as one of his most maudlin yet controversial pronouncements. Having savoured such media glitz, he will certainly not slip into the quiet comfort of solitude. The writing of any memoir by him also will be quite unlikely as he has mostly been known for his swift and sensational strokes, and not for any patient, labourious literary or academic attainments. His success on the silver screen will also be stymied not merely by the constraints to comment on his decisions but also by his persona to come out as a lucid, engaging, persuasive and charismatic conversationalist as shown by his speeches at various events. Pitted against eclectic articulates like Aitzaz Ahsan, Justice (retired) Tariq Mahmood or other heavyweights in any arguments, he would evidently be soon washed out. Joining some political party could rather be another likely avenue for him. Some news, in fact, has already filtered out that a dera at Jhang, Faisalabad Road is being established to launch his son Arsalan into the reigning N-League. Many pundits, however, feel that taking in Arsalan, with the detritus of dubious deals still dogging his footsteps, would be rather too damaging for the party’s prospects. Chaudhry Iftikhar himself could eventually be a better bet. He could quite conveniently land into some rightist dispensations like the PTI or Jamiat factions, which, as illumined by Aitzaz Ahsan, happen to echo his political inclinations.
However, conforming to a party discipline dictated by anyone other than him, would be the biggest dilemma after having wielded the most unprecedented authoritarian sway over the entire judicial domain. So, founding his own political party or using his forte to revive and energise some moribund outfit like the lawyer’s Justice Party or Dr Qadeer’s Tehreek would perhaps be a far better bet. Staying away from active politics and founding a forum to reform the judicial process and facilitate free or at least affordable access to the aggrieved and oppressed would certainly be a far a more commendable option. This would, however, neither yield the media glam nor protection from the imbroglio seeking his accountability for some actual or perceived infractions during his tenure. Politicians, propped up by the pressure of their followers, generally fare better through such legal bouts. Several insignificant entities like Hafiz Saeed and Sheikh Rashid have minted inexplicably larger media focus. An Iftikhar or Fakhr-e-Pakistan Party could certainly steer better, even with a small band of fervent followers.
The writer is an academic and freelance columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]