Just like a vote is not a license to crime for any politician, competence does not give a safe passage to any bureaucrat to indulge in corruption either. No matter whether you have secured millions of votes to come into power, or whether you are a Chevening-scholarship holder with a plethora of degrees from the top universities of the world, apart from having an impressive portfolio of heading a variety of successful projects, you are not above the law. The campaign by Nawaz Sharif since his ouster from power last year in this regard, and lately by the supporters of the now-disgraced bureaucrat Ahad Cheema, reeks of nothing but an intention to exploit the gullible and vulnerable people of Pakistan.
The connivance of the political and permanent executive is apparent by the fact that Mr Cheema was promoted to grade 20, a day after his arrest by NAB in a housing scheme scam. A similar pattern was followed by the ruling party to amend its constitution to make way for Nawaz Sharif to head it after he was disqualified from being a parliamentarian. The similarity of reactions and the patronage and facilitation by the Punjab government points to a common master planner. The freedom with which the colleagues of Mr Cheema in Punjab have threatened to paralyse the Punjab government can thus be explained. Whither the ‘tough administrator’, also known as Khadim-e-Aala?
This institutional war has also exposed the fissures within the federal and provincial bureaucracy, with the latter refusing to toe the line of the former, given the historical tussle between the two factions. It is well-known how the former-DMG (now Pakistan Administrative Service) controls and heads all the top positions in the province, to the detriment of the Provincial Management Service (PMG) officers of Punjab. Now is the time for the PMG officers to settle the score and elicit the much-demanded concessions as a quid pro quo to make the prospective strike by the bureaucrats a success. So much for the oath to serve the masses!
Since the politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers and judges form the cream of any society, it is incumbent upon them to take the bull by the horns to ensure a prosperous, progressive and just Pakistan
The leaders of opposition parties, on their part, have urged the Punjab bureaucracy to distance itself from the tussle between the ruling party and state institutions, which has now reached to new proportions after the short order of the august Supreme Court disqualifying Nawaz Sharif from heading his political party. The repercussion of this verdict could include the ouster of the incumbent prime minister, being nominated for this coveted post by Nawaz Sharif. However, given the decision of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to declare the candidates of the Senate from the ruling party as independent, one would not be surprised to see Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, as well as the by-election winners, are also declared as independent.
Whatever the repercussions, the ruling party brigade is on the loose again, criticising and condemning the apex court. The internecine institutional ‘war’ has reached the parliament now, with the incumbent prime minister challenging the competence of the judiciary to strike down the laws passed by the parliament. Someone needs to inform Mr Abbasi that the notion of judicial review of the acts of the legislature/parliament and executive is inherent in any democratic system having a written constitution, forming part of a wider concept of ‘separation of power’ between the three organs of the State, i.e., Legislature, Executive and Judiciary, with mutual checks and balances on each other.
If the executive or the legislature indulges in anything not allowed by the constitution, it ought to be struck down by the judiciary as being ultra vires (beyond the power) of the Constitution, unlike in countries like the United Kingdom not having a written constitution. The political system of the UK is run on conventions and customs, held so dearly in esteem by the government and the opposition alike. Therefore, the Parliament there is Supreme, and it can do anything, except for making a man, a woman; and a woman, a man. On the contrary, in countries like Pakistan with a written constitution, it’s the over-arching document like Constitution which defines the roles of the three organs of the state, that is supreme; and not any of the organs, including the Parliament.
Talking of the constitution and the rule of law, one is saddened by the rowdy behaviour of the legal community — more so, after the much-vaunted movement for the ‘independence of the judiciary’. The twin murder of fellow lawyers by an irate lawyer-cum-cousin in the court premises in the broad-day light is symptomatic of nothing but an unregulated legal profession and the mistrust on the institution of judiciary. The bar councils may have successfully deflected the responsibility for the poor security arrangements at the premises of the district courts, but the fact remains that until and unless serious and well-intended reform process is initiated in ‘both the wheels of the chariot’, i.e., lawyers and judiciary, for the sole benefit of the horse drawing this chariot, i.e., the litigants, such reprehensible incidents would keep on repeating themselves.
In this regard, stringent procedures ought to be introduced ensuring strict entry requirements for getting a license to practice, or becoming a judge, as the case may be; along with an across-the-board accountability process for the members of the legal and judicial community. During an interaction with a member of Pakistan Bar Council, which is the highest regulatory authority of the lawyers in Pakistan, it dawned on me that all the members of the council are interested in is to secure their re-election to this coveted post, and to enlist the support of more lawyers for their future aspirations to hold more sought-after posts in the legal fraternity. How can one expect these regulators to do the accountability of the lawyers who vote them into power?
As far as the judiciary is concerned, despite the promise of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to decide all the pending cases of misconduct against the judges of the superior judiciary, a lot more is required to be done to improve the well-being and the training of the lower-judiciary, and to streamline the judicial processes to ensure timely justice for the common litigants, who are running from the pillar to post in search of the elusive justice. All in all, since the politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers and judges form the cream of any society, it is incumbent upon them to take the bull by the horns to ensure a prosperous, progressive and just Pakistan.
The writer is a constitutional lawyer and can be reached at [email protected] and @naumanqaiser
Published in Daily Times, March 1st 2018.