Rejecting conspiracy narrative: Top bar leaders endorse SC verdict

ISLAMABAD: Top leaders of the lawyers community Thursday supported the Supreme Court judgment rejecting the conspiracy narrative being paddled by PTI Chairman Imran Khan, though they differed on the question of invoking Article 6.

Speaking in Geo News programme Capital Talk, hosted by Hamid Mir, Ahsan Bhoon, President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), said the apex court’s judgment has buried the Doctrine of Necessity. He said the SC pronounced a unanimous verdict, saying the cipher was not shared with the court.

Bhoon said the SC also noted that the PTI government did not share the cipher from March 7 to March 28 with anyone and did not form any commission to probe it, nor did it raise the issue during the National Assembly's proceedings on March 28 and 31, and hence it is an “almost concoction” to defeat the no-confidence motion. Bhoon said that no more discussion is needed in the wake of this observation.

To Hamid Mir’s question that Imran Khan is insisting that he sent the cipher to the SC via the president and the National Assembly speaker while the court denies its receipt, Shuaib Shaheen, President of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHC), said Imran Khan’s talk is not according to the law and constitutions. Shaheen said no commission or court of inquiry was in place. Therefore, he explained, even if something is placed before the court via the president or any official, it can never be used in judicial proceedings. Imran Khan should have placed the cipher before the court through the attorney general, requesting the judges to view it confidentially before he begins arguing, Shaheed said, adding he couldn’t understand why the PTI was angry as the decision stands announced.

Shaheen said Suri received the letter and gave his finding. Instead, Shaheen said, Suri could have made a parliamentary committee to investigate the matter in camera. Taking part in the discussion, Akbar Ali Dogar, President of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA), seconded the IHCBA’s opinion that Suri should have taken up the cipher issue in the parliament and then proceeded on the matter.

Dogar endorsed the apex court judgment, saying neither the document contained anything, nor they (Imran Khan) could present it properly, and that was why it was not accepted. To Hamid Mir’s question about invoking Article 6 as suggested by Rana Sanaullah, Bhoon said it was unfortunate that when a person in uniform violates the Constitution, people want him hanged, but when a person in the civil dress does it, it is deemed to be subject to interpretation.

Bhoon said it is for the court, when it received a reference, to determine if it is an abrogation or mutilation of the Constitution. Now the majority judgment is that Suri’s ruling violated the Article 95, he said, and added that the judgment has given the government a ground to file a reference. Now what comes out of this reference depends on the court, Bhoon added.

To Hamid Mir’s question wouldn’t it start a debate that when the verdict against Gen Pervez Musharraf under Article 6 cannot be implemented and case is initiated against civilians, the IHCBA president disagreed with additional note of the apex court judge, saying the note has equated violation of the Constitution with abrogation. He said violation of the Constitution is commonplace and the SC declares it as such.

LHCBA President Dogar said that since the deputy speaker’s position is constitutional, and violation on his part falls under the Article 6, now it is for the government to proceed on it, he added.

Commenting on PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry’s reaction to the SC judgment, SCBA chief Bhoon said the verdict was historic for it buried the Doctrine of Necessity.

He said that when the PTI made its government, Nawaz Sharif would blame aliens (khala’ee makhhlooq), and now the PTI leaders are talking about Mr X or Y. He lamented that when a judgment is in their favour, they eulogise judges, otherwise they criticise it. The SCBA chief disagreed with the IHCBA president on the application of Article 6, saying one applies it when it appeals to one’s emotions.