Let the law take its course

The long simmering controversy between the Supreme Court and the Gilani government over the latter's persistent reluctance to implement the apex court's orders and decisions seems to be coming to a head, spawning fears of a constitutional breakdown in the country. Should the executive persevere in its denial mode, as the case seems to be, the Supreme Court may be left with no option but to invoke Article 190 of the Constitution which obligates "All executive and judicial authorities throughout Pakistan to act in aid of the Supreme Court".
So far, the apex court's orders and directives to various branches of executive are seen to have been ignored or only laconically implemented. Take the case of the National Insurance Corporation Limited (NICL): No tool in the government's kit was spared to ensure failure of the investigating team that largely succeeded in uncovering alleged corruption. In the Hajj scam case it was a bigwig's son who was alleged to be one of the principal beneficiaries, and the government wouldn't like that he be questioned by the investigators. In about half a dozen other cases also, the government seems to be non-co-operative. In this backdrop, the question is:
Will the Supreme Court go for military intervention under Article 190, as quite a few, including the former Army Chief General Mirza Aslam Beg, have openly suggested. Going by the extraordinary patience observed by the Supreme Court judges in the face of the government's not-so-hidden defiance, a recourse to the military intervention doesn't seem to be the apex court's option; the Supreme Court is publicly committed to upholding the Constitution and rule of law at all costs.
How then would the court's orders and decisions be implemented, that's now the million-dollar question, which tends to precipitate a national debate and discussion. One likely scenario to unfold visualises a 'private advice' to the prime minister from the GHQ to honour the Supreme Court's verdicts and orders - like the one which resulted in the judges' restoration as the lawyers' march to Islamabad swelled by the hour.
Should the army high command decide to stay put where it is, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the government's continued denial lands the country in a serious crisis, bordering on anarchy. Another scenario may be that the Supreme Court decides enough is enough, as any further procrastination on part of the executive tends to undermine the pristine principles of jurisprudence that justice delayed is justice denied, and announces its verdicts. If the government turns its back on these verdicts, in keeping with its known position, it would leave the higher judiciary in a fix to stay or go home en masse. Under Article 204, the Supreme Court has the power "to punish any person who ...obstructs the process of the Court in any way or disobeys any order of the Court". The question whether Prime Minister Gilani is immune from this condition will find an answer in the negative.
Only yesterday Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry left no one in doubt that 'even the chief executive could be dealt with legally if he tried to hamper the implementation of the court's order'. But if the judges feel disgusted with the developments and decide to go home, then there is every likelihood, that the people would show up on the streets in large enough numbers to force the government to secure their return to their courtrooms. Article 5 empowers the people to ensure that "Obedience to the Constitution and law is the inviolable right of every citizen".
And, the Zardari-Gilani combine's nemesis, the Sharif brothers, are waiting in the wings for such a chance to exploit. The crisis that is brewing in the wake of executive-judiciary confrontation is much more serious than what the government advisors would like to portray to their masters. By all accounts it increasingly appears that a constitutional breakdown is in the making. It's our earnest hope that the government realises the gravity of the situation and revisits its denial mode and decides to cooperate with the country's highest court to obtain in Pakistan an ambience of rule of law without any further loss of time.