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ISLAMABAD – The treasury and the opposition on Monday in the Senate got into heated argument over the role of higher judiciary in the country after the latter accused the judges for supporting the military rulers.
This all started when some of the opposition lawmakers criticized the judiciary while discussing the motion about “miseries” of over 16,000 government employees who had faced dismissal from their services as a result of the Supreme Court judgment declaring the Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Ordinance Act, 2010 ultra-vires of the Constitution.
The opposition also urged the apex court to review its judgment by reinstating all these employees what they said that their families were severely suffering since they lost their jobs in August this year. However, the government defended the role of the higher judiciary and came down hard over the opposition, especially the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), for making an onslaught against the state institutions including the “judiciary, Pakistan Army and the Parliament.”
“The judgment (declaring the Act of the Parliament ultra-vires of the Constitution) is disrespect to the Parliament,” said PML-N Senator Irfan-ul-Haque Siddiqui while taking part in the debate on the motion. “The nation has to bow its heads with embarrassment” when they take a look at “the role played by the judiciary since the establishment of Pakistan,” he said.
The opposition lawmaker went on to say that judiciary neither stood by the law and Constitution, nor by justice and Parliament when four military rulers imposed martial-laws during different times in the chequered political history of the country. “All know with whom they stood by,” he said. He said that the judiciary never held accountable the military rulers and the influential law-breakers and some time it used to take over a decade to decide the cases. He said that a judge on the last day of his service in judiciary sent home thousands of employees with a single stroke of pen.
Leader of the House in the Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem in his response to the speech of opposition lawmaker said that it was morally wrong for the PML-N to raise the voice for the reinstatement of those employees who were sacked in 1997 when the same party was in power. “You cannot target the judiciary under the garb of judgements,” he said. “It is the same judiciary that had allowed a certified culprit to go abroad for treatment,” he said while referring to PML-N supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He added that this relief was provided to PML-N by the same judiciary. “Don’t talk against the institutions,” he warned and said that the opposition party was in the habit of attacking the state institutions including judiciary, Pakistan Army and the parliament.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Waseem said that Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of opposition parties, had lost the ground. He further said that there was difference between giving the employment to citizens and making political appointments while the opposition parties always resorted to the second method when in power. “They should not paly to the galleries.” He said that anyone could give an opinion on the judgements of judiciary but it couldn’t be insulted.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani said that it looked from the judgement that the court might not have been assisted well as those employees also got affected with the judgement who were not part of court proceedings.
“It is a story of misery of those people who are dying because they cannot make both ends meet and they cannot send their children to school.”
His party colleague Senator Taj Haider and National Party Senator Tahir Bizinjo both urged that the Supreme Court should review its decision and reinstate these employees as the matter should be taken as a human right issue.
PML-N Senator Saadia Abbasi argued that it was incumbent upon the state to provide employment to the citizens with respect. Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmad said that the issue should not be see through a political lens as it was a humanitarian issue. He also underlined that the elite of the country was out of radar of the judiciary and mafias never came under the scrutiny of the courts.
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan winding up the debate said that the government stood by these employees and making an effort to get them reinstatement. But he chided the PML-N for raising its voice for their reinstatement and said that they were first sacked when the same party was in power. He criticized the PML-N for giving harsh remarks against the judiciary and accused it attacking the Supreme Court in 1997. He said that it was the apex court that had restored then PML-N government led by Nawaz Sharif in 1993.
“Filing of review petition is the only legal option,” he said while talking on the issue of employees. He said that the government was going to file the review petition against the judgment after formal approval of the Prime Minister Imran Khan and taking input of the attorney-general of Pakistan He added that it was the first case in which federation would be going for a review in a private petition.