Benefit of Doubt
Aziz Munshi temporarily succeeded in delaying the judicial process in the Supreme Court by his dedicated filibustering, if it had not been so annoying it would actually have been amusing. As it is he did not succeed in impeding the march of impatient history and since nothing fails more than failure, he has been temporarily consigned into oblivion from which no doubt he will soon rise Phoenix-like. It is most demeaning to see a man of substance squirm under the knowledge that his Brief his hollow, the pressure was such that he was reduced to dithering on reasons of no consequence to delay the inevitable. Aziz Munshi found himself symbolically in the dock in place of his Client and fighting a losing battle, he came off the worse for it. Defending the indefensible one has to accept the approbation that goes with it, in the face of adversity though, one must commend Mr Munshi in not resorting to the ultimate fall-back position, histrionics. That by far was his most saving grace, accepting with equanimity the historic Supreme Court verdict. The detailed judgement in the case is now more than overdue.
Flush with victory in the Supreme Court, in the face of existing realities which was his to lose if he faltered, eloquent Barrister Khalid Anwar seems to have gained an infallible reputation. With the utmost respect for the Honourable Judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) one has to observe that in the matter of Elahi Vs Wattoo, it has led them to re-defining the meaning of limbo and opened up a legal Pandora’s box. The Province of Punjab finds itself in a state of suspended animation because of the Interim Order given by the LHC on Wednesday last as well the plea of Counsel Abdul Hafeez Pirzada of vertical bias and the application for shifting thereof. Born Again – Chief Minister Wattoo’s state is that of betwixt and between, as an incumbent not illegal but being insecure hardly stable. His new ally in the Governor’s House, PPP Stalwart and Presidential confidante, Altaf Hussain (not to be confused by the gentleman in London), finds his seat of power itself under threat. According to the Interim Order issued by the LHC, the Constitutional position in Punjab reverts to what it was before the Honourable Governor dissolved the Provincial Assembly (PA), with the stipulation of status quo, that the advice of the CM to dissolve is not to take effect nor can he give any such advice till further notice, to balance off it has been mandated that a vote of no-confidence moved by the Petitioners cannot be further processed. In effect it does not prevent MPAs other than Pervaiz Elahi, the Petitioner, from requisitioning the PA and proposing a vote of no-confidence in the CM, except that if its result could not be applied till a final decision of the LHC. According to our much differently interpreted Constitution, the Assembly is supposed to dissolve automatically at the expiry of 48 hours after the advice is tendered, this raised another anomaly promptly exploited by the Speaker. The pressure cockpit of political currents seemed to have rushed the Honourable Judges into a rather ambiguous position. One surmises respectfully that in hindsight the Honourable Judges would come to the conclusion that judicious discretion required a more thorough negotiation through this legal minefield to avert this potentially Catch-22 situation. One does not live for an instant under the impression that the motivation of the LHC was anything but sincere, however since one cannot please everybody with a Judgement, an Interim Order is twice complicated. It has opened up a window of opportunity for those who are prone to fomenting anarchy, this time by casting undue aspersion on the judiciary.
