Then we come to our courts and judges. After Sajjad Ali Shah had been unseated, I received a cassette upon which was recorded the events of Nov 28, 1997 as recorded on the CCTV cameras. I sent a copy of this cassette to the new chief justice, Ajmal Mian, asking him to investigate the matter and take suo motu action. Believable, because we all know how our judiciary has evolved, is the fact that many of the judges sitting in the Supreme Court resented this — they did not want the storming to be taken up, and rather than taking measures to strengthen the internal security in the court they did the opposite………………………

The fame of our redeemer of the judiciary, Aitzaz Ahsan, has spread far and wide. The New York Times printed a lengthy spread on him on June 1. His interviewer, James Traub, describes him as being “almost recklessly outspoken”. In Benazir Bhutto’s first government, Aitzaz “served as minister of law and the interior, making him, he says, ‘virtually the deputy prime minister’. But Benazir’s inexperience, her imperious manner…” Why did a man steeped in law choose also to head the ‘dirty tricks brigade’?

“You can’t have a democracy without an independent judiciary,” says Aitzaz, “And you can certainly not construct a parliamentary structure on the debris of the judicial edifice.” As for the judges, “There have been corrupt and vile chief justices in the past,” but to him the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry “seemed to be a prince, the prince who challenges authority, defies his executioners and was prepared to go to the gallows holding his head up.”

So says the Cambridge Chaudhry and good for him. But Traub sees it otherwise. “The chief justice had become a political shuttlecock. Both the Bush administration and the PPP would have liked to bat him down but could not publicly say so. The PML-N wanted to keep him aloft, both because Nawaz Sharif, who as prime minister had trampled on civil liberties, would be delighted to position himself as the champion of democracy against a reluctant or double-dealing Zardari.”

As Traub relates, “Zardari, Aitzaz told me flatly, ‘doesn’t want independent judges. He wants dependent judges’.” Poor Chief Justice Chaudhry — he deserves better.

(”Our great redeemers – 2″ DAWN, Sunday, JUne 15, 2008) By Ardeshir Cowasjee)

By Ardeshir Cowasjee

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How much has this ‘long march’ which was not a march but a drive (we have had ‘marches’ in vehicles and trains in the past orchestrated by our political leaders) burdened this deprived nation and its thirsty and hungry people? If street thinking or street power is to be believed, the funds for the lawyers’ movement and for this culmination have emanated from the coffers of Mian Nawaz Sharif and his brand of Muslim League, whose coffers were and are filled to the brim with the nation’s money.

We must always remember that if this country had law and order, accompanied by justice of the genuine type, many of those who now lord it over this country would be looking at us, rather than lounging in their gilded chairs, through the spaces between the bars that separated them from us.

Nawaz Sharif, now championing the cause of an independent judiciary purely as a means of getting his own back on Musharraf, was once caught out when he carelessly signed a loan agreement that was subject to English law. During his second term in office, whilst riding high, his Hudaiba Paper Mill borrowed money from Investment Funds Limited operated by Al-Tawfik Company. Defaulters are held to be accountable in England and Mian Sahib and his partners were dealt with successfully by the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice in London. That court did what no court in Pakistan could or dare do.

A master of the court, not even a judge, served an order on the defendants in September 1998 and properties in London were attached. End of story. The Sharifs paid up the loan plus interest amounting to approximately US$450m within 16 months. According to the Mians, which is somewhat unbelievable, the money was paid back by an ‘Arab friend’ out of pure love and affection. The details of the repayment were not disclosed, as requested by the Sharifs. The lenders did not object and the court so ordered………………..

If it is true that we had fair elections and people who got elected are elected by the people freely then they should be supported to govern for the improvement of conditions for the people. Is it fair or not?

Leave, the West where it is. At least we had fair and free elections without interference from the West. The so called “dictator” has nothing to do with policy making it is the parliament and the Prime Minister now. Isn’t it?

Sohraab Hasnain

Have a good rest of the evening!

which one of these lawyers have come out and supported poor people when they have ever needed help? How many pro bono cases have they participated in?

I am no fan of Musharraf but to blame every single thing today on him is a sign of people not taking their own responsibility!