Courts were waging "legal guerrilla warfare" against Govt - Ikram Sehgal

Reza_Pahlavi · November 7, 2007, 11:07pm

Others are now waking up this fact as well now.

**While all of us welcomed the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to his office and the era of the judicial activism it heralded, there was concern and disquiet in the public about the SC orders to reopen Lal Masjid and free the terrorists caught in the bloody confrontation. In restoring “the rule of law”, the honourable justices unfortunately brought us perilously close to conditions of anarchy. The Supreme Court and the Sindh High Court were intent on waging legal guerrilla warfare through “suo motu” mechanism by taking over the functions of the government. In fact, they came close to paralysing part of the government machinery. While one does not condone the highhandedness of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs), being increasingly dragged into court the rank and file were bewildered as to which authority to answer to. On the one hand one cherished the judicial activism restoring the fundamental rights of citizens, on the other the conservative streak was appalled at the judiciary running berserk in encroaching upon the executive privilege of governance. Already beset by a myriad number of problems, the confrontation between the executive and the judiciary evoked deep apprehension among the populace. **

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=79437

Aalsi · November 8, 2007, 12:46am

Re: Courts were waging “legal guerrilla warfare” against Govt - Ikram Sehgal

Reza_Pahlavi:

Others are now waking up this fact as well now.

**While all of us welcomed the restoration of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry to his office and the era of the judicial activism it heralded, there was concern and disquiet in the public about the SC orders to reopen Lal Masjid and free the terrorists caught in the bloody confrontation. In restoring “the rule of law”, the honourable justices unfortunately brought us perilously close to conditions of anarchy. The Supreme Court and the Sindh High Court were intent on waging legal guerrilla warfare through “suo motu” mechanism by taking over the functions of the government. In fact, they came close to paralysing part of the government machinery. While one does not condone the highhandedness of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs), being increasingly dragged into court the rank and file were bewildered as to which authority to answer to. On the one hand one cherished the judicial activism restoring the fundamental rights of citizens, on the other the conservative streak was appalled at the judiciary running berserk in encroaching upon the executive privilege of governance. Already beset by a myriad number of problems, the confrontation between the executive and the judiciary evoked deep apprehension among the populace. **

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=79437

Interesting. Just goes to show how some judges were impeding the war on terror.

Reza_Pahlavi · November 8, 2007, 10:13am

Re: Courts were waging “legal guerrilla warfare” against Govt - Ikram Sehgal

The Daily Times Editorial was blaming the judges as well, the other day, and even sections of the irresponsible media.

There is no doubt that there was “judicial activism” in the country not normally seen in third world states where institutions often malfunction. Before he got wrongly dismissed in March 2007, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had hundreds, some say thousands, of suo motu cases under his belt. He had already put the brakes on privatisation by reversing the sale of Pakistan Steel Mills. But after his reinstatement, the apex court underwent a radical and extremist transformation that, as it turns out, has harmed rather than helped Pakistan. The lawyers’ movement and its support among the general public made the judges square off against the government.

Unfortunately, many electronic media journalists, flushed by their new found freedom to say whatever they liked, motivated by the principle of subjecting the state to accountability, and offended by the government’s action to remove them from scenes of conflict, added to the tendency to push the executive to the wall. Regrettably, too, the Lal Masjid in Islamabad was returned by the Supreme Court to the terrorists under these conditions. A suo motu judiciary went after the “missing” people cases with a vengeance, regardless of the nature of the terrorist charges against them, threatening the civil servants with punishments, and indirectly causing them to lose initiative in the pursuit of their duties.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\11\05\story_5-11-2007_pg3_1

Rebel_X · November 8, 2007, 2:19pm