Articles of the year 2018
Published on July 22nd 2018
The Chief Justice,
Supreme Court of Pakistan,
We admire the steps taken by the Judiciary, in particular the Supreme Court of Pakistan in issuing notices to, and initiating proceedings against the various wrong doers. This indeed is admirable, and will go a long way to correct the errant ways of the various institutions.
The legacy we inherited from the British was a system of governance once considered the finest in the world. Over the years, various political leaders starting with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto thought the system needed amendments to be made more compliant to their wishes. Hence, a constitution was drafted by Pirzada, and signed by all the elected members of the truncated country. The majority denied any participation in the process. The perpetrators of this monstrous crime went on to be sung as heroes of the new Pakistan, ignoring the huge loss of half the country. This was not enough, and various amendments to the rules of conduct were brought in. By the time the politicians came to exercise their full power, the manipulation of the Civil Service rules was complete and the service was now at the mercy of the politician.
However, certain institutions when structured did have self correction measures. The Chairman Nab had enormous powers to function as the watchdog over corruption. Previous Chairman NAB, Qamar Usman Chaudhry, set the tone for his tenure by stopping all proceedings against the Sharifs, and all prosecutions against politicians went into a “go slow” mode, and many prosecutions were shelved.
This was the reason that Nawaz Sharif ran Punjab as a personal fiefdom with no checks.
My Lord, we request that action be taken against the above mentioned Gentleman for bringing the institution into disrepute by hindering the prosecution of the known corrupt, and by non filing of the charges against the PMLN leadership who went astray after the Chairman stopped his vigilance.
Chaudhry should be immediately arrested for dereliction of duty, and for aiding and abetting the corruption of the Sharifs. He should lose all the benefits he received, and all his accounts frozen and turned over to the treasury. His punishment should be such that no Government officer ever breaks the rules of service.
My Lord, it is essential that a clear message is delivered to the officers of the Pakistan Government. Their duty is indeed sacred and their punishment is here and now. This punishment is carefully enshrined in the rules of business and not to be exercised by the elected officials.
My Lord, the rules of service are as sacred as any scripture because they define the conduct of our civil servants that run our daily lives. These rules define the state of the Nation. While we are in support of your effort so far, we request that this action be taken against the ex-chairman at the earliest.