Bulletproof car: IHC issues notices to interior, law ministries

Sheikh Ahsanuddin argues that threats to ex-CJP have multiplied since Quetta, Mardan attacks

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court Monday issued notices to all concerned parties after it started proceedings afresh for a case of providing bulletproof cars to the former chief justice of Pakistan.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui issued notices to the ministry of interior, ministry of law and justice division and the secretary cabinet division and directed them to submit their replies.

Sheikh Ahsanuddin, spokesperson for the ‘Pakistan Justice Democratic Critic Party’, argued in his petition that the former top judge requires stringent security, especially, in the wake of the attacks on courts in Quetta and Mardan.

These attacks, Ahsanuddin argued, had increased the security threats manifold.On May 11, a division bench of the IHC had set aside Justice Siddiqui’s verdict ordering the government to provide a bulletproof car and security to the former CJP.

While allowing the federal government’s Intra-Court Appeal (ICA) to reclaim a bulletproof car being used by Justice (retired) Chaudhry, the court had remanded the case back to the single bench with directions to hear all parties and conclude the case.

In January 2014, Justice Siddiqui had ordered that the “former chief justice shall be provided foolproof security along with possession of the aforementioned bulletproof car for his and his family’s use without putting embargo of any time specification.”

The Cabinet Division had subsequently issued a notification stating that the vehicle was being provided to the former CJP for three months.  However, in the ICA, the appellants including secretary cabinet division and secretary ministry of law, maintained that they were not a party in the petition after which the court ordered to provide the car to Justice (retired) Chaudhry.

Additional Attorney General (AAG) Afnan Karim Kundi had argued that there was no precedent of providing a former top judge with a bulletproof car. He had argued that if the practice was allowed, it would not only open the door for all retired judges of the superior judiciary to seek the same facility but would also be discriminatory under Article 25 of the Constitution.

Kundi had maintained that it should not appear as if judges are favoured simply for being judges. With the whole country under threat, could everyone be granted the same security as Justice (retired) Chaudhry, he had asked.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2016.