During the last several months, the honourable courts have been in the news as frequently as our politicians.
There was not a day when one of the higher courts or the Supreme Court did not become the talk of the town or feature in the news.
With the elections drawing close, the courts are handling far more poll-related matters than before. However this time around, the Supreme Court is in the news for some other reason.
The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) is hearing proceedings against Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi.
The judge is facing charges of corruption and submitting incomplete asset details. Justice Naqvi, however, gave a detailed response to the Supreme Judicial Council’s show cause notice and denied the allegations against him. Ultimately, Justice Naqvi resigned, saying that it was no longer possible for him to continue due to circumstances which were “a matter of public knowledge”. The very next day Justice Ijazul Ahsan, who would have become the next chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) in October this year, bowed out too.
Justice Ahsan, who was part of the council which was hearing the proceedings against Justice Naqvi, had been constantly backing Justice Naqvi and had regretted the show-cause notice served on the former judge. Justice Ahsan had recently written a note to the Supreme Judicial Council in which he stated that the proceeding against Justice Naqvi were being “conducted in haste and were contrary to the established norms”. However, this did not stop the judicial council from suspending hearing the case.
In fact the council said it was ready to hear the former judge either directly or through his counsel, Khawaja Haris Ahmed. The attorney general of Pakistan was of the view that the proceedings should continue as people had the right to know the real facts. Among the political parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was quick to respond to the development. Senior leader Khawaja Asif stated in a tweet that the assets of judges and their heirs should be scrutinised, as is the practice with politicians.
The party’s information secretary, Marriyum Aurangzeb, in a presser, was particularly harsh in her reaction, accusing the two judges of doing injustice to the people of the country. In short there is upheaval in the apex court after the two judges, said to be from former chief justice Bandial camp, resigned within a span of a day. Some experts are of the view that the next senior judge after Justice Ahsan is Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and with his elevation as chief justice, a sense of stability would prevail. However it is not that simple. A lot more drama is expected in the next few days.
