An Appeal to Honourable Supreme Court Justices

Most of the serving Supreme Court Justices will retire at the age of 65, as per constitutional requirement, without ever getting elevated to the coveted post of Chief Justice. Barring a new military coup and with that a corresponding PCO there are no legal instruments available to sack any one of them – of course until and unless they don’t prove themselves guilty of gross misconduct. Note, lousy reasons wouldn’t suffice anymore.

In other words, most of the judges sitting on the Bench today will phase out or fade away in due time. And very few, if any at all, among laypersons will be able to recall even their good names after their retirement. They will, at best, become short footnotes in the judicial history of the country.

Without going into intricate academic discussion, one can conveniently assert that the honourable judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan have today a unique chance, an opportunity that comes across only the luckiest among mortals. All of these judges have the chance to get them immortalized for all times to come. It is time to write a new chapter in the badly chequered history of unfortunate country of ours.

If a Supreme Court bench can award a three-year grace period to a military dictator without even asked for; if a bench can award the right to amend the Constitution to a despot without having itself that authority, then why cannot the full court of the Supreme Court hearing the petition of Chief Justice Pakistan (CJP) Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry against the presidential reference, declare not only sacking of the honourable Chief Justice null and void but also charge the chief of army staff for high treason for fiddling around the Constitution, hostage taking of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, contempt of court and terrorism for unleashing state goons on protesting masses, and not the least for fomenting carnage in Karachi.

If required, the infamous doctrine of necessity can be used once again – this time the other way round, on the behalf of masses. And as a result, posterity will cherish them, history will remember them as those who usher the country into a new era of constitutionalism, rule of law and upheld the banner of judiciary high at the peril of their lives and careers.

To put things in perspective, consider. If the purported denial of landing to an airliner carrying the then sacked chief of army staff could be termed, handled and adjudicated as hijacking and tried in an anti-terrorist court then by any standard holding Chief Justice and his family incommunicado at his residence, his manhandling and blatant smashing of each and every relevant clause of the Constitution under military boots is terrorism at its worst.

In response to the weird argument put forward by Mr Pirzada that actions of the president under Article 248 of the Constitution were protected and could not be called in question, may I dare to ask what about the administrative actions of the duly elected prime minister. Are those actions too protected by the said Article of the Constitution? What about the constitutional protection provided to the CJP? Can President kill and/or rape with impunity?

The honourable judges should keep in mind that the 15-17 Sind High Court judges who received the CJP at Sukkur and Hyderabad will be remembered by the history books not those few who kept themselves away from his reception. Similarly 12 out of 14 judges of Peshawar High Court, including its Chief Justice, who recently received CJP Iftikhar would ever be mentioned by historians with utmost respect. In the same way, coming generations will keep on paying their homage to those honourable judges of Lahore High Court who received the CJP at Lahore.

What could Musharraf do to those judges, what will he be able to do? Not letting them elevating to the Supreme Court – a very small price to be written with golden words in history books, to be able to keep the head up in front of your family and society and conscience.

It is fearless and principled icons like Justice Jawad S. Khawaja et al (I am heartedly sorry for skipping the names of all the worthy judges of subordinate judiciary and government legal officials who resigned in protest) who will be adored and revered by future historians. The history will remember only those who are capable and willing to stand up to the government and take on the intelligence agencies for delivering justice to general public.

I would like to beseech the honourable judges of Supreme Court, excluding Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Hamid Dogar [and two more, to be named some other time], to cease the moment and change the history of Pakistan. Such chances come, at the most, once in a life time.

My lords, you have the power, you have the authority, you have the requisite public support, do it. Musharraf, assuming he somehow survives this upheaval, can do absolutely nothing against. Yeah, absolutely nothing. He himself is desperately looking for cover. Come on, tell the world, pen is far, far stronger than LMGs and military boots. Opportunities like this don’t present themselves every day. This is a defining moment for the judiciary, for Pakistan – for all of us.

It should also be kept in mind that the failure to defend the dignity of the incumbent CJP will not only destroy the trust of common man on the highest judicial venue of the country it will also render everyone of honourable justices vulnerable to predatory despots. Not condemning the abominable treatment meted out to the CJP in unambiguous terms would be a gross tragedy and an irreparable loss to the social, political and judicial fabric of the county.

Musharraf’s power is directly proportional to our fear and cowardice. The moment we stand up, his uniform, the mighty GHQ, all of its firepower will melt away. The commendable CJP has shown the way by courageously standing his ground, the rest of us must not now shy away to follow in his footsteps.

It is not a question of an individual, with it hinges the sheer existence of Pakistan as a civilized nation state. The outcome of this episode will define our destiny and charter the path we will have to limp along rest of our lives. The office is bigger than the person who occupies it.

Okay, very possible, your judgment might not result in instantly flushing out of Musharraf from the same Army House where the honourable Chief Justice was humiliated, but undoing that judgement wouldn’t be possible for the ever-active 111-Brigade either.

My lords, I beg you, please. A monumental piece of history is being made, be a graceful part of it.