Experience counts

On April 16, addressing officers of the Command and Staff College at Quetta — at the Supreme Court (SC) building in that troubled city — Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry yet again made front-page headlines.

His stirring words to the army officers assembled have been the subject of much press commentary, but actually all he impressed upon the gathering was that members of the armed forces should remember the oath they swore when commissioned, and, remembering it, ensure that it is not violated. Easier said than done, taking into account Pakistan’s lurid past and the fact that, on numerous occasions during past civilian regimes, politicians of all parties, when in opposition, have gone on bended knee to the army chief of the time and pleaded with him to come to the ‘rescue of the country’ — that euphemistic phrase they employ when seeking their own rescue from being shut out of the powerhouse.

Justice Chaudhry cited Founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah (MAJ) when he addressed members of the college in June 1948 and read out the oath as it was then. MAJ, of course, said much more which was not quoted, futile words, as it turned out, which had but a lifespan of 10 years (eight years up to the 1956 constitution plus two years to the first of the army coups): “I should like you to study the constitution which is in force in Pakistan at present [the Government of India Act] and understand its true constitutional and legal implications when you say that you will be faithful to the constitution of the Dominion . . . ”. Faithfulness was not a trait imbued into the army psyche. And constitutions were anything but sacrosanct.

The CJP is well qualified to utter on the hazards and dangers of army rule, having had a long exposure to it, and due to its vagaries (not unusual in the republic that is Pakistan), circumstances (also not unusual) and to his particular stance (most unusual in any sector of governance) he has rightfully developed into somewhat of a cult figure, lauded not only in his home country but in lands far away. He is uniquely qualified to comment having seen both sides of the fence, so to speak, and even far beyond one side.

Facts apply, with all due respect and honour. Justice Chaudhry was appointed chief justice of the Balochistan High Court in April 1999. As such, he was one of the 89 judges of the superior judiciary who took the oath on January 26, 2000 under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) as imposed by General Pervez Musharraf, then chief executive of the Islamic Republic. On February 4 that same year, he was elevated to the SC at which time he was required to again take oath under the PCO. On June 30, 2005, he was appointed chief justice of Pakistan at which time he took the oath under the much amended and mutilated constitution of Pakistan — a mishmash of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s 1973 Constitution, of Zia’s Eighth Amendment and of Musharraf’s 17^th Amendment of 2003 (now even more obscure with the additions of the 18^th and 19^th Amendments, which have not greatly pleased the honourable members of our apex court).

In October 2002, he was one of five judges of the SC who dismissed a petition challenging the promulgation of the Legal Framework Order that year by Musharraf who was by then president. In April 2005, Justice Chaudhry was one of five SC justices who dismissed all petitions challenging Musharraf’s constitutional amendments, thus allowing the general to continue to wear his beloved second skin, his proud uniform.

The CJP has seen it all and the respect won is deserved.

On an internet website devoted to our CJP, there is a fine photograph of an oath-taking ceremony with Justice Chaudhry in his gold-bordered black robe, standing next to Musharraf, who is in a beige suit, a chocolate brown shirt and a pale tie.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2011.