Constitution of Pakistan in the dock//

 Constitution of Pakistan in the dock

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto will always be remembered in the history of Pakistan for giving the constitution of Pakistan and laying the foundations of the nuclear program, but the same Bhutto was hanged on the throne. This "feat" was performed by the Judiciary of that time on the order of Zia-ul-Haq, and the Constitution was left looking helplessly. Zia-ul-Haq, who used to call the Constitution of Pakistan a useless book of six pages, the judiciary fell on his orders and an elected Prime Minister met with a tragic end. Justice Naseem-ul-Hasan, a member of the bench that sentenced Bhutto to death, admitted that it was wrong to sentence Bhutto to death. After the 2008 general elections, when the PPP came to power, it filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the execution of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Even after 12 years, that application is still awaited for hearing even though now there are sudden decisions in favor of a political party (Honorable Justice Atharminullah also mentioned in his dissenting note that this case was not heard). Is).

This judiciary not only granted the right to rule for 3 years to dictator Pervez Musharraf, who committed grave betrayal of the constitution, but also gave him the right to amend the constitution. The irony is that the person who deserved the death penalty became the ruler without participation and the elected Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif had to suffer exile along with his family. When Mian Nawaz Sharif was elected as the Prime Minister for the third time with a clear majority, then a case was registered against Pervez Musharraf under Article 6. A special bench consisting of Justice Shahid Karim of Lahore High Court and Justice Nazar Akbar of Sindh High Court was formed under the leadership of Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Waqar Seth. This case continued for 6 years and finally on December 17, 2019, the special court sentenced Pervez Musharraf to death. but on January 13, 2020, the bench of Lahore High Court headed by Justice Mazahar Ali Naqvi nullified the formation of the special court to pronounce the verdict on the high treason case. This was the period when Ladla was sitting in the lap of the establishment and swinging the cradle of power. The establishment had to save its former Chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf anyway, so it did. This feat was also accomplished by the defenders of the constitution.

There is evidence that the Supreme Court removed the iqama from Panama under the pressure of the establishment and snatched power from the 3-time elected Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif. This achievement of the guardians of the constitution is the darkest chapter in the history of justice. This feat was accomplished on July 27, 2017 by a 5-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa. Justice Sheikh Azmat was a member of this bench who after his retirement was elected as a member of the Board of Governors of Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital. This bench did not determine the period of disqualification of Mian Nawaz Sharif. This decision was taken by a 5-member bench headed by the then Chief Justice Saqib Nisar. Justice Azmat Saeed, Justice Umar Atta Bandial, Justice Ejaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah were included in this bench. The bench disqualified Mian Nawaz Sharif and Jahangir Tareen for life under Article 62-1F. This decision was written by the present Chief Justice Honorable Omar Atta Bandial. It is the same Honorable Umar Atta Bandial who remarked in Faisal Vawda's life disqualification case that life disqualification is a black law and then Faisal Vawda's life disqualification was limited to 5 years. If such decisions are called "playing with the constitution", there is a risk of contempt of court, therefore they can only be called "charisma-making" of the judiciary. Such charisma in which the Judiciary sometimes re-writes the Constitution by interpreting Article 63-A to benefit Ladley and sometimes performs the feat of giving judgment by converting a 9-member bench into a 5-member bench. Research that even today in the highest judiciary of Pakistan, there are a large number of such justices who cannot even imagine hitting a stick while making a decision, but all political decisions are made by like-minded judges. Since this bench is formed by the Honorable Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandyal, therefore he himself comes in the face of such one-sided decisions.

The latest uproar is over the date of automatic notification of elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Hon'ble Chief Justice formed a 9-member bench on February 22 taking notice of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for not giving dates. On the very first day of the court proceedings, strong objections were raised on the presence of two honorable members of the bench, Justice Ijazul Hasan and Justice Mazahar Naqvi. On the second day, apart from these two like-minded judges, surprisingly, Justice Atharmanullah and Justice Yahya Afridi, who objected to the formation of the bench, were also dismissed from the bench and a new 5-member bench was formed. The decision of this bench came in favor of automatic notice by a majority of 3 members while Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandukhel wrote dissenting notes. On the same day, there was a clamor from various quarters that the ad hoc notice was rejected by 4/3 because Justice Atharmanullah and Justice Yahya Afridi had already opposed the ad hoc notice, while Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Jamal Khan Mandukhel now opposed it. has given

According to this decision, the President of Pakistan fixed the date of April 30 for the elections, which was also started by the Election Commission. Later, considering the situation in the country, the Election Commission changed this date to October 8 instead of April 30. Against this date, Tehreek-e-Insaf filed a petition in the Supreme Court, on which the Chief Justice Sahib, comprising Justice Ijazul Hassan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Jamal Khan Mandukhel.