How Supreme Court of Pakistan restored faith in Constitution

The night of 9th and 10th April 2022 will be remembered in the history of Pakistan for two reasons. First because on this very day in 1973, Pakistan’s present constitution was adopted, and second because, on this day, the Supreme Court of Pakistan restored the faith of people in the constitution by aggressively acting and delivering judgments.

Although Democracy and Pakistan are two opposite things and it will be futile to talk about democracy in a country where military or military supported governments ruled for over 50 years and the country saw 8 main and 9 caretaker prime ministers for the rest of the 25-year period. We know that political leadership has never been a centre of power in Pakistan but the way circumstances unfolded in the last week, showed a silver lining in the dark clouds and showed a way that democracy has a future in Pakistan.

The great Pakistani drama which happened over the last one week and especially its climax which happened on the night of 9th and 10th April 2022 was another nail-biting episode of Pakistani history however this time, instead of the Pakistani Army, the Supreme Court of Pakistan was the lead character and its five-judge bench including the Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandiyal emerged as a hero.

During his last four-year tenure as Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan Niazi took the country to the brink of economic collapse. The loans taken during his tenure were more than the ones taken during the entire history of Pakistan put together. Inflation was at a record high and the Pakistani Currency was devalued by almost 100%. Not only this, but Pakistan also became a puppet of China and because of the incompetent government, Pakistan was alienated across the world.

Such things were serious and when Imran’s ruling coalition members went against him pushing his government into a minority, he could have sensed it and resigned respectfully but that did not happen. He knew that in Pakistan’s history no prime minister could ever complete his tenure and he himself was no exception. Yet, he continued to linger upon the seat of power and used all his tricks to avoid stepping down. Initially, his loyal speaker of the national assembly avoided the trust vote several times.

He postponed the voting on his own without citing any reason several times. When this became unavoidable, Imran Khan himself came up with a cooked-up story that a foreign country (America) is trying to destabilise his government and his ouster is not in favour of Pakistan however in the name of the official secret act, he kept this evidence and details confined to himself.

Not only this, sensing the immediate threat, he resigned and proposed elections in the country without even consulting the election commission about the feasibility.

He thought that the joint opposition will be divided in the elections by contesting separately and he has a chance to sail through again but it was the supreme court of Pakistan that acted promptly and Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandiyal deserves all applause for this. The Pakistan Supreme Court’s judgment on 7th April 2022 was without any ambiguity and covered all possible contingencies.

It not only directed the Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan to conduct a vote on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan but also scrapped all his decisions involving the dissolution of the assembly. It also fixed up a date of 9th April 2022 for voting and all the necessary stakeholders were told to prepare for it.

But as the circumstances unfolded during the entire day on 9th April 2022, there were dark clouds over the promulgation of the judgment. The same Imran Khan who used to roar that he will not give NRO (National Reconciliation Order – a kind of ordnance to pardon all the wrongdoing of an individual) to anyone was seen begging for an NRO for himself. The same Imran Khan who used the government machinery and NAB (National Accountability Bureau) to lodge cases against opposition party leaders and harass them, was seen negotiating that he will resign if given assurance that NAB will not lodge any case against him and his family.

Not only this but there were also reports that Imran Khan asked for a safe passage for him and his family from Pakistan to a European Country in return for his resignation. But it was the Supreme Court of Pakistan that thwarted all his agenda. Let us understand in a few points how the Supreme Court of Pakistan restored the constitution.

1. Prompt action on the appeal of joint opposition by scrapping orders of Assembly speaker, restoring the National Assembly, and fixing a mandatory date for the conduct of voting against the no-confidence motion.

2. On the evening of 9th April 2022 when it became clear that conduct of voting will be difficult, Chief Justice called for an emergency session of the Supreme Court of Pakistan at the midnight of 9th and 10th April 2022 and was poised to charge Imran Khan and his party members for the contempt of court.

3. Chie Justice ensured that Pakistan Army remains away from this issue and so instead of them, he directly ordered Islamabad Police and Pakistan Rangers to surround the Pakistan National Assembly, call prison guards, and created an atmosphere that forced the National Assembly Speake Asad Qaiser to resign before midnight amidst the fear of being arrested.

4. Supreme Court of Pakistan sensed the situation that Imran Khan or his cabinet members may leave the country so it ensured that necessary instructions were passed to all the airports so that no government servant, member of the outgoing government, or their family members are able to leave the country without official clearance.

5. While all the five judges of the bench were present in the Supreme Court on the night of 9th and 10th April 2022, they sent their legal representatives to the National Assembly at the midnight to monitor the activities and inform them about all the developments in a real-time basis. It was only after the voting and declaration of results; that these judges left the supreme court premises.

This entire sequence of events has a lot of connotations. While Imran Khan lost his face in front of the Pakistani public, his conflict with Pakistan Army on several occasions in the past ensured that he is not even with the Rawalpindi boys too. His biased action against the opposition party leaders over the last four years will now attract a similar action from the Shahbaz

Sharif led a coalition government and the road ahead till the next elections is going to be very bumpy for him and his party.

Pakistan is our immediate neighbour and having fought four major wars and several local skirmishes, it is in the interest of India to have a responsible government in Pakistan. Pakistan attained nuclear capability a few years ago and there are serious doubts over the safety of its nuclear stockpile.

At the same time, Pakistan Army is going through a challenging phase where it must balance out its relations with America. Circumstances in South Asia are not very good and with the way countries are aligning themselves due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine Crisis, India should be prepared to meet any unknown challenge from Pakistan. The next few weeks are crucial and will determine the outlook of the Shahbaz Sharif government and India must watch it carefully.