Independent Judiciary

Never have been the judges and the judiciary subjected to such a trial and tribulation in the annals of history of a nation as they have been in a short span of a year only in Pakistan. Not a day passes that they are not discussed in the media "“ print and electronic - and the treatment meted out to them by all and sundry leaves much to be desired. Ostensibly, the  politicians and the intellectuals, the writers and the panellists all look to be advocating for the independence of the judiciary but from their tone and tenor they give the impression of being some kind of overlords trying to help some  helpless dependent of theirs. They seem to have rendered the  PCO and the PCOed judges just as some ordinary government servants looking askance towards them for their next commandment or the proclamation. Judges will be restored by 30^th April. They will be restored by 12^th May. We - and then they immediately correct themselves "“ the sixteen crore awam will not accept  the PCO Judges. The committee for the restoration of the judges will draft the resolution by May 6^th.  It will do it before May 12^th. A few additional days do not matter. We will not allow any dictator to alter their terms of service or tenure.  We will restore them by a simple executive order. Individuals do not matter, it is the institutions that we want to be strengthened, etc.  One just wonders are these gentlemen really strengthening the independence of judiciary by their such utterances or making it more subservient to them by issuing such "˜political' statements?   Will such restored Judiciary be able to function independently, firmly and without fear or favour with these overlords in the government in times to come? We have a case in point of the "˜independence' of the Election Commission being "˜ordered' to revise the date for the bye elections yet another time again.  Some independent Election Commission.

Truly

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)

30, Westridge-1

Rawalpindi 46000

Tel: (051) 546 3344