Government should implement the decisions of the Supreme Court in Letter and Spirit, demands PILDAT

Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) has expressed grave concern over lack of seriousness in implementing the decisions of the Supreme Court by the Government of Pakistan and has demanded that the Government should immediately comply with the Supreme Court’s orders and decisions in their entirety.

The Government’s approach is detrimental to democracy and to the rule of law. While the continuation of democratic order is crucial for Pakistan, the democratic system is incomplete without an independent and effective Judiciary. A popularly-elected Government that continues to defy the judgments, orders and decisions of the Supreme Court is working to weaken democracy and destabilize the democratic order that Pakistan can ill-afford at this juncture.

PILDAT has observed that the Government has consistently shown a lack of will in carrying out the Judiciary’s orders, ever since the restoration of the higher Judiciary in March 2009. Some of the major cases in which the Government has either openly defied the Supreme Court of Pakistan or resorted to delaying tactics include the NICL scandal and the re-appointment of Mr. Zafar Qureshi; delay in the appointment of the Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau and the Hajj scam, etc.

Latest incident of the Federal Government relegating the Establishment Secretary Sohail Ahmed to Officer on Special Duty (OSD) after he had submitted to the Supreme Court a notification transferring Hussain Asghar, the IG of Gilgit-Baltistan, back to the FIA, is another step by the Government to undermine Supreme Court’s authority which is condemnable.

The Constitution of Pakistan, Article 190, makes it obligatory for all ‘executive and judicial authorities throughout Pakistan’ to ‘act in aid of the Supreme Court.’ Thus the defiance, delay and at times even denunciation of the Court orders by the Federal Government may constitute contempt of court and a violation of the Constitution of Pakistan.

PILDAT believes that confrontation between these two integral pillars of the State is harmful for the democratic process as well as the smooth functioning of the state. It weakens the Government by reducing public support and legitimacy for the regime and, if prolonged, may lead to anarchy and chaos. Furthermore, the confrontation has already led to demands by certain individuals that agencies such as the Armed Forces must come to the aid of the apex court of Pakistan. While such demands are unreasonable and must be deplored, the inability of the Government to implement the decisions of the Court, leading to an increasing mistrust in the Government, may have provided a pretext for this.

All organs of the State need to work within their prescribed Constitutional domains, maintained PILDAT. Pakistan has suffered for a large part of its existence because of inability of state institutions to exercise their powers effectively within their respective Constitutional domains. The Government has all the rights to use legal and Constitutional avenues available to it to defend it, but once the apex court passes an order, no Government in any civilized State has any option but to comply.