Of fissures and resignations

Two men of repute in the superior judiciary registered themselves on the right side of history as they tendered their resignations from the Supreme Court of Pakistan minutes after the controversial 27th amendment got the Presidential assent. Puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah bowed out in grace, leaving a question mark on the fairness of amending the Constitution. To Justice Shah, the person-specific amendment is tantamount to dismantling the very edifice of the Supreme Court, subduing the judiciary to executive control and striking at the heart of constitutional democracy. Likewise, Justice Minallah lamented that he had sworn to uphold not "a constitution" but "the Constitution".

Aftershocks and crosscurrents have been flowing out since the passage of the amendment with a widespread speculation that more judges of integrity will call it a day. The apex court, as of now, is subservient to the newly-founded Federal Constitutional Court. Moreover, the affix of 'Pakistan' with the Supreme Court has ceased to exist. The new legislation bulldozed through both houses of the parliament, however, saw a twist in the form of a sunset clause as another person-specific insertion was made naming Chief Justice Yahya Afridi as the Chief Justice of 'Supreme Court', apparently rewarding him for inaction and silence as his august institution was demoted under his nose.

Bar councils, lawyers and former jurists, nonetheless, had a clarity of thought as they kept on pushing the envelope. They sought practical efforts from Chief Justice Afridi by advising him to summon a full court to preempt any efforts on the part of the government to belittle the judiciary. That, however, failed to move Justice Afridi, who will now be remembered for abetting the downfall of the Supreme Court merely for keeping himself afloat. The least that can be done now is to marshal a momentum for rehabilitating the image of the judiciary and circumvent attempts from the executive that would come to derail it under the guise of laws and amendments. Justices Shah and Minallah have shown the way.