‘Darkest day’ for judiciary: National security has trumped fundamental rights: Asma
It is the darkest day for the judiciary because the apex court has subjected fundamental rights to national security, said Asma Jehangir, counsel for former ambassador to US Husain Haqqani, while speaking to reporters after the announcement of the order.
Terming the court’s judgment ‘disappointing’, Jehangir said the civilian authority had come under the army.
“I am forced to think if it is the judiciary of the people or the judiciary of the establishment,” she said.
Jehangir added that the court gave the petitioners more than they had asked for.
The court directed High Commissioner to the UK to assist in the probe, although the petitioners never asked for his involvement, Jehangir said, adding: “We know very well that the establishment had been trying to target him too.”
“I was expecting at least one dissenting voice against the judgment, but I did not see any ray of hope in the court today,” she said.
Jehangir added that the decision had compromised a person’s right to justice.
“It is sad that the highest court of judiciary has done it and if saying this is contempt of court, then so be it.”
Jehangir said she will wait for the final verdict and then see if she has to appeal for a review of the case.
She added that the judgment was against the rule of law and said she was ready to go to jail for the implementation of the rule of law.
However, she said, “I accept the court’s decision even if I don’t agree to it.”
“One day, this judgment would hurt the petitioners – and one day the petitioners will say that one woman said in the Supreme Court that, one day they will say this judgment is not according to rule of law”
(Read: SC verdict on memogate)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2011.
COMMENTS (94)
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National Security is more important than personal rights................it was also witnessed after 9/11 in USA.
Iftikhar chudri him self is a part of coruptin.....! and this old lady got newly rich....
Anyone trying to pitch government against military and also trying to drive wedge between the officers and the regulars of our sacred army needs his or her head examined.
I think that Asma Jehangir is getting desperate because of fighting for failed case.
Here is a "self-styled" human-rights (or should I say, super-human rights) activist, who untiringly fights for the (fundamental human) rights of the elite, even at the cost of national security; and never accepts any verdict, if it goes against her. May be Ms. Jehangir will care to ponder, where would she fight for such rights, if the nation itself breaks (God forbid). I am sure she will be awarded higher accolades by the Pakistan-bashers. Glad the honourable justices did not fall prey to her "fundamental-rights" ploy. Please stop being a cry-baby and accept the verdict graciously.
Madam! Every body has its role. No one is superior than Almighty ALLAH.
Parliament is responsible for making the law and it is not responsible for making decision. Its the court which decides whose right and whose wrong based on the law.
If Hussain Haqani is so much right then why is he afraid of the investigation.
@International Spectator: Haha, I like the first three letters. They've lost credibility and respect by over reacting to everything anti PPP and ignoring everything anti Nawaz Sharif so much so that the guy barges into the building completely bypassing the security checks and the Registrar issues a denial. These judges have no time for the common man's cases. I rest my case.
We will go on and on facing these dark days coming out of the chimney of SC unless these judges are not appointed through the hearing of both lower and higher houses of the parliament. If we really need our institutions to grow in a democratic way then this is the only way out. I totally agree with Asma bibi.
What PAK laws have been broken?
Now we all the truth about the hypocrite Asma Jehangir. Thank you SC for exposing her
Does any of this really surprise anyone?.............You seem to forget this is PAK.
When things do not go as you expect, then it is very easy to say something like that.
@adeel cheema: Well said Adeel!
Looks like Oath of Loyalty under PCO is thicker than Oath of Loyalty to the Constitution.
@anonymus:
44 $ may be the declared one...................... You have no idea of undocumented earning of these BIG lawyers.....
Aray aray . . . .ulta chor kutwal ko dantay. Thank God Supreme Court and CJ are standing tall with their verdict. Judiciary at work! Light at the end of the tunnel . . . .Bright Days ahead for the Judiciary!!
@Sher khan:
Khan saib please use brain before commenting.
Actually one should look at Memogate issue form the viewpoint of who stood to gain from the memo fiasco. Pakistani President or Ambassador didn’t have to give the memo in such a clandestine or amateurish manner. Zardari or Hina Khar could have ‘summoned’ US Ambassador to their office & handed over the memo if the need for such a help was ever needed & sought. Otherwise Haqqani could have met Mullen & handed over the memo himself. In both cases no eyebrows would have been raised because calling an Ambassador to Foreign Ministry or an Ambassador meeting the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is not an unusual occurrence. And such a memo would have the signature & the stamp of the office of authority that issued it. The memo in question was surely a deliberate amateurish attempt. It was unsigned! It was not even typed by anybody in Pak Embassy but was prepared by Mansoor Ijaz, a journalist who is not even a naturalized Pakistani American but a born pucca American. It was not handed over by Ijaz but given to a General to hand over to Mullen. Is Haqqani so naïve? No, Sir, No! The only party to have made any gains is the so-called “Establishment”, a 13-letter word for Armed Forces and/or ISI. By writing such an amateurish letter (that was also delivered so amateurishly) the Establishment has been successful in maligning the civil government and getting rid of Haqqani. That this was Establishment move is further given credence by the fact that Shuja rushed to London without Government's permission to cook the conspiracy further! Whether Zardari-Gilani Government is effective or nincompoop is beside the point. It is not for nothing that one says “In a democracy, people get the government they deserve”. It is also said that democratic governments are the least efficient. The only thing in favour of it is that it can be changed by people without a bloodbath. Pakistanis voted this government in power & they can get rid of it after its term ends & suffer it in silence during its term.
@Amjad Cheema: Expect worse, my dear sir, expect worse; from this Kangaroo court.
I was a hyperactive member of the lawyers movement. Now in hindsight, I sincerely regret it.
@Parliament Supremacy: Most of the common readers can't make head nor tail of your comments as they know little about the law. They just judge the judges by whether they trust them or not and they believe what they'd like to believe based on their emotions, likings and duslikings. Unfortunately even those who know the veracity and accuracy of your comments would ignore them. Who do we go to if the custodians of justice are bent upon disregarding these basic priciples? Judiciary is supposed to be above politics. All we can do, I.e. the "odd ones" like you and me is to lament. And I must thank and express our gratitude to ET for having the "audacity" and journalistic integrity for publishing the truth. But my comments, I can bet, are destined to be deleted.
@Sindhvoice:
Sorry but this is a well used and misused card..People fo Sindh have suffered the most under this Zardari lead goverment.I would not even call it a PPP goverment as most of it's Ministers dont have roots in the real party of Z A Bhutto.PPP has been hijacked by greedy vultures mascarading as 'PPP'
This is the judiciary that stood against a dictator and won. Ms Asma Jehangir has her reasons to disagree with the ruling after all she represents Mr Haqqani.
Pakistan has come along way away from the 70s and no party can be victimised.
What else could we expect from this Kangroo Court.
@Faizan: Me2. And "General Ifti" too please. But how? Do you know a waterfall where I could throw a coin and make a wish?. No, seriously. Merci.
Zardari needs another NRO.
A Fundamental right of individual is sacrosanct and at every turn in even developed democracy it comes under attack,be it 90 days of prevention detention or a Close Circuit TV.Asma is right when she says that the lerned Judges od SC sided with government against an individual's fundamental right. It is indeed a repeat of 79 when Pakistan Sc hanged its own democratically elected PM and on many occasion hid behind"Doctrine of Neccessity" under jack boots to validate abrogation of constitution. A sad day indeed.
Pakistani western elite only believe in democracy of it lets then get away with looting and corruption All this talk of civilian control of army is just code for complete control of Pakistan If you don't like supreme court perhaps you should learn about democracy , parliament is not more powerful than courts
And this time they wont come as they did in 1999, this time with out any need for validation or PCO, same judges are acting and will do Judicial coup d'état for their God Father..
I don't understand why do we all come up as constitutional expert while we lack the basic knowledge of law or even the constitution at the first place. Whenever we get any summon from the court we go to same lawyers and seek their assistance (whom we are asking most unprofessional and corrupt). Secondly, her outrageous comments are not slanderous nor contempt of court. All those stalwarts of lawyer movement said same when the very same CJ validated the Dictator. Supreme court has very limited powers. Please bear this in mind that it is an appellate Court neither court of first instance. Whenever you go to a court like High court, they brush aside any petition which need fact finding so how come apex court came up with appointment of commission without hearing all the parties. How come Our Apex court from day one implied that COAS and ISI are saying the only truth? where the same institution locked him and his family for months in his own home. he is trusting same institution to save his post? If that american is saying 100% true about HH then why we are turning blind eye to his other evidence in which he said very loudly that ISI chief was conspiricing and lobbying against Democratic govt. why he is not showing his bona fide and resign.
Asma we are all very proud of you, thanks a lot for being a Titan. Despite the arguments from both sides what has been the history of SC? There has not been a single military takeover that the SC did not like, and not endorsed. The current PCO SC is no exception. Nobody is afraid of the trial or justice, it is this hisorical background of SC that is devoid of any just example when it comes to the generals. The speed, the urgency of the SC, generals and NS is obvious. Not a single murder case/appeal or missing persons has ever been heard with such prompotnes as if the SC did not have anything better, more important or urgent to do. It simply does not pass the smell test along with the history.
@ Commonsense, they have done some wonderful things.I am not a PPP supporter but lets be fair. They introduced 18th Amendment where by fulfilling the demands on provinces. Brought a number of progressive laws.Had consensus NFC.
Our problems are complex and it is not possible to solve them even in a decade.Why do you thing economy will improve when you are having energy crisis and we do not have law and order under control mainly because we a civilian government is not being allowed to formulate a foreign policy. We are still busy in supporting laskars etc.
No one is realizing that Judiciary is bulldozing institutions. Auditor General of Pakistan conduct a rudimentary audit of every institutions including president house, army etc but when they tried to audit supreme court expenditures,they were not allowed by the General Iftikhar Chaudhary and they refused to let registrar send the details of expenditures to Public Accounts Committee.
It is a dangerous game being played to make 73 constitution a controversial one by none other than CJ and the and humnawa. Just do one think, have a look at the random verdicts of any court in any country and compare the umber of consensus decisions. We are leading the world in having consensus decisions which is not a good sign.
ISI and Judiciary are the two tools that the super-establsihment uses to rule Pakistan and silence critics. The judiciary in Pakistan in my honest opinion is the most dirty and politically motivated entity.
miss asma jahangir comments on daily hearing were ridiculous, always blaming military but not mentioning the political mistakes ,issuing so many visas and which is clearly shows American interference in Pakistan, raymond davis any other spys are living example...
Asma Jahangir after all these years of service to the cause of human rights is out of her mind in defending a clear cut case affecting national interest. There is a memo, the BBM messages prove that Haqqani got in touch with Ijaz.
Why is Haqqani a guest in presidency and prime minister house. Is it allowed for all ex-envoys?Very telling.
Every word Asma said while commenting on this judgement is 100% correct. She is a brave woman. My hats off to her.
No one elets judges and they are not answerable to anybody Politicians are accountable to their electorate Why not the lawyers and supreme court judges launch a political party and after winning the elections they can provide a clean government instead of interfering with the functioning of elected parliament
The problem is that lawyers can prove disprove Anything I am not sure who is right but one thing I'd very obvious! A large number of people consider the court biased and revengeful There are reasons for govt to be fearful
Asma had put up a very good fight for her client and her arguments as reported in the press carried a lot of weight. But after the decision to cast aspersions on the judiciary is below her status.
@PakiKaki: Couldnt be more precise. Salut Kaki
Lets be intellectually honest here, you are basically saying that the blanket protection provided to hundreds of corrupt politicians under NRO was okay in the name of democracy? In the 4 years of this functioning democracy, rampant corruption, systematic breakdown of institutions, detiorating law and order, and cripping economic crisis, should all this be also be blamed on the army? The problem is PPP made it's bed and it must now lie in it. Lets not continue to pretend they are the vanguards of democracy because everyone knows they too in the past have been raised in the bosoms of the so called beast they are now pretending to attack. They coddle with the army when they want favors, but as soon as something goes wrong they cry foul and play the victims. Tell me one democratic aspect of the current state of the PPP and ill accept your argument.
@Khalid Masood:
44 dollars was her fee
what is the issue with an independent investigation??? who ever says or decides anything, even if just, but not in favor of this govt, becomes a black thing, and this govt. attacks that institution... is everyone bad in Pakistan but this govt. is an angel? as only their point of view is correct. This govt. is defying the constitution by not listening to the supreme court... they should remember that other institutions can also do the same by following them... it will create further anarchy in an already messed up country.
Uptill today I respected Ms. Asma Jehangir, but after her todays press conference in which she accused and defied the supreme court I believe she has gone firmly on the pay list of the current regime. Sad...
@Awais: Yep lawyers are politicized. And then they become judges. And then one of these judges handpicks other judges. What else do you expect, other than a biased and polarized judiciary.
The Supreme Court appointed Mr Khosa as commission who refused so what is the purpose of a months proceedings on maintain ability of these petitions Asma Jehangir should have known this.....this decision is questionable at best
I beg to Differ Ms. Jehangir.. I think that both the Civilian and Military leadership have acceeded to the superiority of Law... No one is above the Law. Pakistan is ,where it finds itself today, for lack of respect and nonadherence to Law!
Irony of western type of judicial system..............
She knows she is talking something unrealistic but still she has support her client as she pocketed huge fee for that.........
History repeats its self, seems two powerful institution are teaming up to knock out PPP once again as they did in 70s. As per Misaq e Jamhooriyat Document, there is no concept of such supreme court.
Now we are the victim of judicial dictatorship.
@CommonSense: At that time they thought gradually to get rid of the military patronage. But were mistaken. In fact Pakistan army is like that blanket about which a floating man who jumped in the river to grab the blanket said, "I want to the leave the balnket but blanket does not want to leave me". Because it was not a blanket but a wild bear,
I think she is coming across too defensive. Let things take course. Why exacerbate the confrontation between institutions when we are least prepared to deal with the ramifications of such an event?
@Umer: all pillars of state are connected ....yes i would have been glad to name parliment or Gillani as well if they have not been so corrupt and have brought every institution under them to standstill...if i connect parliment to other remaining pillars then there are chances that desease may spread ...
@Saeed: Ya it's almost embarrassing
@Megatron:
Are you implying all three are connected?
@Adnan: speaking against the pillars of state is patriotism....wow
This entire case is a joke, they want investigations but they want to do it themselves and not the courts to do it. Parliament is supreme but what can a committee give a verdict against their bosses?
Long live Iftikhar Chaudhary Sb....Long live Pak Army.....Long live ISI...
Asma, U really inspired me a lot. U r symbol of courage & bravery. U r really patriotic.
Language used by Asma Jehangir against the Judiciary & Army is devoid of normal ethics.She comes out of the court & then holds court proceedings before the press.This is not done.
@Ishrat Salim: i think you are trying to say "till yesterday"? in urdu both yesterday and tomorrow has the same word, not in other languages.
The civilian authority was never independent in the first place, if it was not under the influence of the army, then it was under the influence of foreign countries. The present Govt is neither capable nor is it strong enough to run Pakistan indpendently. These politician have run Pakistan as an amusement park for certain powers and virtually have slaved pakisanis to foreign dictation. What has these corrupt politicians given Pakistan, misery, hunger, emptiness, I'd rather have a strong Pakistan under strong leader then under corrupt politicians.
Truly agree with the Iron Lady (Asma Jehangir) it’s a dark day for judiciary. This decision came under the pressure from the powerful military, who always interfere in civilian matters; rather than to focus on their primary duty of defending the borders.
Asma is just doing her job . . . she has to play the "high drama" card to defend her client because she hasn't got much else. No point in shooting the lawyer. The real concern is whether Haqqani and his boss were acting against the State. Let justice take its course.
I am a civilian and had voted for PPP government (unfortunately). I dont consider it as a case of military or judicial supremacy and I want this matter to be throughly investigated simply because I feel that my security and that of my beloved country's has been compromised by this memo. Now what else do you have to say Dear Miss Jahangir?
@Ishrat Salim: Agree with you.
Dark day indeed and independent judiciary is forever going to be an oxymoron as far as Pakistan is concerned.