The proposed new bill on Contempt, passed in haste by NA has been criticised by every sane and intelligent constitutional expert including Fakhruddin G Ibrahim. According to the Bill, which if approved by Senate and President, ridiculing the judiciary, casting aspersions on its members, or not obeying its orders, no longer constitute contempt, since the clause has been deleted from the bill. It aims to prolong delays in delivering justice by making a mockery of providing repetitive appeals, that serve no purpose, other than seeking more time. Although it has yet not become law, the contemptuous remarks, which could be defined as ridicule, or abuse by Sind Information Minister Mr Sharjeel Memon, should serve as an eye opener for us, of the manner in which our superior judiciary will be subjected to this harassment and what this regime considers to be temperate criticism. For any country with a dysfunctional judiciary, unable to get its judgments implemented, it is heading for anarchy and lawlessness, on a scale that prevails perhaps in Somalia or Afghanistan, where warlords rule through sheer brute force. Mr Memon seems to be on a continuous campaign to abuse the judges and mock at them. What he and ruling coalition need to understand is that their government has failed miserably on delivering to the people over past four years. It is they who abused their powers by appointing matriculates and inter pass corrupt individuals to head state corporations which have gone bust. Lives and properties of citizens of Pakistan have no value for this government, as has been witnessed by unprecedented rise in target killings, street crimes, extortion and kidnapping for ransom in Pakistan’s major financial hub Karachi, just because of failure to enforce writ of law. They have no plans to rejuvenate our economy and provide jobs which is evident from crippling power shortages in Pakistan. This bill is against Islamic Law, Western Jurisprudence and violates the basic fundamentals on which our constitution is based and is nothing but a legislative atrocity against rule of law.
MALIK TARIQ ALI,
Lahore, July 11.