ISLAMABAD - Jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan on Saturday penned a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa seeking superior judiciary’s “meaningful intervention” claiming the state of the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution has fallen to the new lows in the country.
He feared if the foregoing situation were to prevail, it would be fatal to any civilised order in the world.
Speaking at a press conference along with party leader Intazar Hussain Panjutha, PTI Information Secretary Raoof Hasan divulged that former prime minister Khan has written a seven-point letter to the CJP highlighting the prevailing state of the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution in Pakistan.
“As, what i believe to be the majority of our populace, faces the wrath of the state, now is the time for you to prove whether your declared belief in the principles and values espoused by Pakistan’s founding fathers, and your proclamation of the supremacy of the constitution, are for real or were mere hollow rhetoric,” the letter reads while addressing chief justice Isa.
The secretary information said that jailed party leader Khan reminded in the letter that the new lows to which the state of the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution has fallen in Pakistan have caused the gradual emergence of the law of the jungle and the enactment of the primitive doctrine that ‘might is right.’
Raoof demanded that the CJP should fulfill his constitutional and legal responsibilities otherwise he did not have the right to remain in the office and should relinquish his position instantly.
During the presser, he highlighted that the ex-premier addressed seven points in his letter including matter of petitions already pending in the Supreme Court (SC), while others involve facts and circumstances that glaringly call for prompt intervention at the judiciary’s own motion. But in each case, it has so far been in vain, he added.
He revealed that one of the seven issues was the Toshakhana case against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif. He said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had instituted proceedings against Nawaz for having procured a luxury vehicle from the Toshakhana “through dishonest and illegal means for personal benefit and interest”. However now, all of a sudden with statements of 15 out of 25 witnesses already recorded, the NAB prosecutors are proposing to the Accountability Court to exonerate him in an open and shut case, making a mockery of our justice system by clearly siding with thieves at the behest of puppet chairman of the top anti-corruption watchdog, he added
Another matter is of the violent subjugation of the police by our armed forces in Bahawalnagar during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, Raoof said that the clash between state institutions should serve as an eye opener on the lop-sided state of uniformed vigilante justice in Pakistan.
The letter underlines that when the police repeatedly cross every single line known to a civilized society by raiding, vandalizing and looting the homes of our unarmed citizens, no one comes to the rescue of these defenseless men, women and children, he said.
“Disappointingly, our Judiciary, instead of stepping in, has remained a bystander in the face of all these excesses rather it has even acted as a facilitator when women, both young and old have been implicated in one case after another,” he said while quoting the letter.
Imran Khan urged CJP that the lines drawn by our Constitution between the various pillars of the State are getting blurred into non-existence, and this has to be stopped before it is too late, Raoof said.
About the letter penned by six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges, Khan reminded the CJP that the judiciary must take unified and decisive action to secure its independence and to hold accountable those who consistently undermine it by use of force or the threat of use of force.
“To date, however, the action taken by the SC on the subject has been meek and indecisive, which calls for strict action on part of the apex court towards speedily setting the system right. Failing that, the people’s confidence in the justice system of Pakistan, which is undergoing significant erosion already, will stand dismantled and demolished,” the letter reads.
About PTI’s detainees of May 9 violence, Khan categorically stated that over 90 percent of the people who are incarcerated and undergoing trial for these incidents were peaceful and unarmed protestors who did not indulge in any violence whatsoever.
“The State, however, is acting as judge, jury and executioner in all these trials, first, directly through military courts, on the Constitutionality of which the SC has been dragging its feet for longer than it should, and, secondly, in an indirect manner, by holding guns to the heads of the Subordinate Court Judges who are conducting the trials,” it said.
The letter demanded that a constitutional petition calling for an independent, transparent and thorough inquiry into May 9 violence should be fixed for hearing at the earliest in the interest of complete justice.
Former premier Imran Khan pointed out that the Commissioner Rawalpindi division made startling revelations in a press conference admitting his responsibility for manipulating election results on February 8. “However where he disappeared now from public view, is a mystery to all and sundry.”
“Is the SC so helpless in this regard that it does not deem this a matter of public importance with reference to the enforcement of fundamental rights…? An entire nation whose mandate has been stolen feels very strongly about this,” says the letter.
Moreover, Khan said that a series of petitions, including one filed by PTI, pressing that the general election of February 8, 2024 was not conducted honestly, fairly and in accordance with law, have been pending in the SC, which should be fixed too.
Besides, Khan urged CJP to fix the party’s petition regarding the subject of allocation of reserved seats in the National and provincial assemblies because the way the matter has been handled by the Election Commission, and by speakers of several of the houses concerned was unknown to and unrecognized by the Constitution.
“Inaction on your part and that of the SC in the face of each of the aforementioned matters of grave importance would exacerbate the Constitutional crisis the country is already faced with and push it closer and closer to the abyss,” PTI founder warned the CJP.