The New Nation - Internet Edition

Dr. M. S. Haq

At present, the case of deposed judges of Pakistan has got several dimensions. For example: the national interest dimension; the constitutional dimension; the legal dimension; the time dimension; the dimension of power, politics, expectation and individualism; the dimension of reputation and image building; the implementation (I mean pertinent decisions, per se) dimension; the dimension of threat, risk and vulnerability; and the dimension of future. A proper disposal of the case would require inter alia an effective and efficient management of all those dimensions in a sustainable manner, enabling people of Pakistan - either directly or otherwise - to take the right decision at the right time and cost in relevant areas.

A few questions now are: How best and quickest Pakistan and Pakistanis could do all those things? How best and quickest the friends (including inter alia the US), the well-wishers, the neighbors (including inter alia India and Afghanistan) and others (including inter alia the World Bank and the UN) could assist Pakistan and Pakistanis in the effort towards overcoming the country's present day challenges including inter alia those connected with or ancillary to (or both) the judges' case - as applicable? What best and how quickest the country's political leaders, influential people of Pakistan and concerned others could offer to say, poor people of Pakistan at this hour of need, distress and deprivation?

Taking into cognizance above and related factors against the backdrop of Pakistan's overall current situation, the country and the people could take number of steps towards meeting the requirements. A number of them have been presented below - not in the order of priority and important - as a checklist, per se:

1. dissect unresolved issues - for example up to and including today, this 20th day of August 2008 - pertaining to reinstatement of judges. Isolate less problematic issues from more problematic ones. It could be that the issue of other deposed judges is less problematic than that of the chief judge or vice versa, for an instance;

2. settle immediately and if possible, cases of reinstatement - I mean those containing less problematic issues and possess relatively quick fix potentials - under the authority of parliament and with a prior technical clearance (in pertinent areas) from Supreme Court of Pakistan and other relevant entities.

The final decision could go in favor of or against the concerned judge-s in the greater and overall interest of Pakistan, per se. All concerned should be ready to accept that. They should also be ready, in a concerted fashion, to face situations that might arise out of above decision, for an instance. In any event, the door of court should remain open to any of the affected judges;

3. if the case of chief judge is found to be more problematic than that of other deposed judges, then take time for say, re-examining and re-evaluating the case in light of the country's existing and evolving situations and more importantly, in light of the best and overall interest of Pakistan, to mention a few;

4. do not rush to judgment with regard to any of the above cases against the backdrop of for example, possible future agitations by lawyers and others, time lag implications and other risks and vulnerabilities in relevant areas.

I am suggesting it here because a bad precedent in pertinent areas could do more harm than good to the country both at present and in the foreseeable future;

5. do political as well as legal justice to the case of judges as far as humanly possible, and as appropriate. Do not become over emotional or over confident (or both) over the judges' case. Develop immunities from exaggerating the case before people of Pakistan, the media (print, electronic, others) and others.

Do not let the judges' case go beyond the control of Pakistan and Pakistanis at this critical hour of the nation's history. Be more open to the people on the judges' case. Share with them (including inter alia members of lawyer communities and civil society) - in a more constructive and result-oriented manner than that at present - challenges and opportunities associated with the judges' case. Take extra initiatives for taking on board all political parties in the parliament - including PML-Q and MQM - while dealing with, and deciding on, judges' and other related cases therein;

6. attend other competing national priorities particularly those concerning the poor vis-à-vis the judges' case. There exists at present a legal guardian to take care of matters pertaining to what I would call the country's supreme justice - - that is, Supreme Court of Pakistan which is functional. On the other hand, poor people of Pakistan are, in a sense, becoming increasingly guardian-less due to say, the political turmoil, as well as instability in the name of a few PCO judges, for an instance. Anyway - Almighty God is the Guardian of each and everything.

One of the concerns here is: the entire people of Pakistan cannot be held hostage - on a continuous basis - to the cause of those judges which (I mean the cause) is not, in certain senses, based on solid premises, among other things.

It will not be out of place to mention here: PML(N) - which is now seemingly very active in matters relating to judges (the ultimate motive is unknown to whom it might concern) - does not hold even the second position in terms of popular votes in the national assembly election of the recent past;

7. finish house-keeping jobs before for example, the reinstatement of judges. Those jobs should include inter alia: enactment and enforcement of an indemnity act covering areas and periods as required, as well as appropriate; enactment and enforcement of an act reflecting on proper, justifiable and sustainable sharing of the state power between and among presidency, legislature, executive and judiciary - both during peace times and in emergencies; a future code of conduct for judges - all in the greater, overall, short term and medium interest of Pakistan. I did not mention deliberately - long term - in the above sentence because I do not want to become an easy victim of naïve realism in the face of ever growing reality of uncertainties;

8. draw contingency plans for dealing with for example the post reinstatement challenges and opportunities. Do first things first in the judges and allied matters in a lawful, parliament-centered, cost-effective, result-oriented, transparent and accountable manner; and

9. work towards securing the independence of judiciary for all time to come at least under the sovereign Pakistan.

The last word: it is expected matters pertaining to a few deposed judges including the chief judge will not be instrumental in inter alia further destabilization of Pakistan between now and the foreseeable future. It is also expected Pakistan will be able to set examples in pertinent areas for others to follow those - through the foreseeable future. Let us work for the best for all.