A tapping of judicial feet

If a sense of irritation could be detected in the Supreme Court and the metaphorical tapping of judicial feet in discreet exasperation, then it would hardly be surprising. The Panama Papers case has been adjourned yet again having advanced not one iota from the position it was in when it was adjourned on Monday the July 17^th and will in all likelihood be in when it is adjourned on the 19^th — and thereafter. The Honourable Justices were distinctly unamused, with Justice Ijazul Ahsan commenting during legal argument that the prime minister did not “give us anything” and that Bench had been waiting from the outset for the money trail to be revealed but all to no avail. The PM, it was observed, had a game-plan that was simple — ‘Don’t accept — don’t reveal’ which he had followed to the letter. He gave away nothing and remembered nothing. Life for the PM seemingly continues in a fog of unknowing and blank memory banks, a tad concerning considering that we are a nuclear state.

It is the breadth and depth of ignorance of what should have been matters of easy recall that makes one wonder how the Sharif family managed to acquire the vast wealth that they have, and whether accountants ever feature in their financial lives. A sense of wonder aside, there is a suspicion that the business of governance proceeds on autopilot, as all the principal players are concerned with pressing business mainly involving cloaks of invisibility.

Problems on the Indian border? What problems? The budget deficit? Ha! — A mere trifle. Imminent floods connected to the monsoon? No problem. Levity it may be but there is a serious undercurrent. The principal offices of government have been consumed — and we use the word advisedly — by the Panama Papers affair since the day they were revealed in 2015. Vast amounts of time, money and effort have been expended by all sides to defeat or break the other. Coffers of political capital have been flung to the winds and where do we stand today? Little wiser than the day all — or nothing — was originally revealed.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2017.

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