PML-N Wins again – in court only! by Ahmed Iqbalabadi

What a great day for the real revolutionaries of Pakistan. Chaudhry Nisar’s petition against the appointment of Justice Deedar Shah was accepted and the Supreme Court ruling the appointment as illegal. The bench that delivered the victory for Chaudhry Nisar and PML-N included Justices Javed Iqbal, Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Asif Saeed Khan Khosa. Without going into details, it seems that the verdict is based on technicalities and lacunae in the appointment of Justice Deedar.

Victory Mubarak, Mr. Bean

Chaudhry Nisar was represented by his party’s and Jang Group’s unofficial legal representative, Akram Sheikh Advocate. The only issue for them is that Justice Deedar was a member of the PPP having been an elected member of the Sindh Assembly twice. Off course what they fail to realize that after being an MPA, Justice Deedar Shah became a judge of the High Court and then Supreme Court.

This is yet another victory delivered to the PML-N by the courts. Their previous victories include:

  1. Shahbaz Sharif’s government being run on a stay order for more than 2 and half years delivered by the Lahore High Court
  2. Carbon Tax being declared illegal after having been approved by the National Assembly in the 2009-10 Federal Budget. The case was filed by Senator Zafar Ali Shah Advocate
  3. The verdict on 18th Amendment in which Shahbaz Sharif was a co-petitioner.

I am sure; the PML-N realizes what its real power base is. That is why their revolutionary Shahbaz Sharif demands for inclusion of Army and Judiciary in an all parties conference to steer the country out of troubles.

PML-N should leave electoral politics and work hard on winning bar elections. Wish them all the best in further subverting democratic and parliamentary processes.

Supreme Court asks NAB chief Deedar Shah to pack up

By Nasir Iqbal

Dawn, March 11, 2011

ISLAMABAD, March 10: The Supreme Court has ruled the appointment of Justice (retd) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) illegal, accepting a challenge from the PMLN. The court ordered Justice (retd) Shah to immediately relinquish the office.

The verdict by a threejudge bench, whose detailed reasons the court said would be issued later, required the incumbent, a former judge of the Supreme Court, to immediately leave the office he assumed five months ago after another legal row in which the court had ordered the removal of his predecessor.

The ruling on two constitutional petitions, one of them by Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, is being interpreted here as a blow to the government which had made some last-minute moves apparently to remove some perceived gaps in the appointment.

It came only six days after the apex court had overturned a parliamentary committee decision rejecting the grant of extension to six additional judges of the Lahore and Sindh High Courts recommended by the judicial commission.

Justice (retd) Deedar Shah was appointed NAB chief on Oct 8 last year after his predecessor Nawid Ahsan was removed under a Dec 16, 2009, Supreme Court ruling that held the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) as unconstitutional, ordered the government to revive all cases withdrawn under the ordinance and expressed displeasure over the perceived lack of proper and honest assistance and suggested the appoint ment of a new chairman.

“For reasons to be recorded separately, these petitions are accepted and the appointment of Justice (retd) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah as chairman, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), is hereby declared as illegal and ultra vires (of the Constitution) and he shall cease to hold the said office forthwith,” said the order of the bench comprising justices Javed Iqbal, Raja Fayyaz Ahmed and Asif Saeed Khan Khosa.

Chaudhry Nisar had challenged the appointment on the ground that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had not met the constitutional requirement of holding consultations with him. The government said the consultation had been done and the appointment was made after the opposition leader had rejected an earlier nominee.

The second petitioner, Shahid Orakzai, argued that the appointment had been made by the president without meeting the constitutional requirement of a prime ministerial advice — an apparent lacuna the government appeared to have tried to remove when its senior counsel, Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, informed the court on Feb 10 of a modified notification issued the previous day announcing reappointment of Justice (retd) Shah by the president on the advice of the prime minister.

Advocate Mohammad Akram Sheikh, representing Chaudhry Nisar, argued that the government was assuming the appointment as valid by removing a single defect without looking into other alleged defects which he said had crept into it.

He also prayed to the court to lay down guidelines for such appointments.

The counsel alleged that Justice (retd) Shah was known to have been associated with the PPP for a long time and he actively participated in party politics, twice serving as a member of the Sindh Assembly.

On the other hand, Mr Pirzada argued that the appointment did not infringe upon the fundamental rights of any individual and, therefore, the case should not be treated under fundamental rights.

The issue regarding the right to life could not be extended to an appointment of this nature which, he pleaded, also did not deny the legitimate expectations of other aspirants.

During the proceedings, Justice Asif Khosa observed that the issue related to rights of thousands of people concerned with NAB cases and questioned how the government could adjust the four months of service of Justice (retd) Shah after withdrawing the first notification about his appointment.

The government counsel replied that if the court held the first notification as illegal, the second would hold ground.

Comments

comments

Latest Comments
  1. Dr. M. Ahmed Khan
    -
  2. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  3. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  4. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  5. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  6. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  7. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  8. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  9. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  10. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  11. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  12. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  13. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  14. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  15. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  16. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  17. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  18. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  19. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  20. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  21. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  22. Ahmed Iqbalabadi
    -
  23. Saleem Ahmed
    -
  24. Ocie Uriostegui
    -
WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about troubleshooting WordPress.