Finally, the wheels of justice move

Bewildered PTI supporters and sympathisers wondered on Tuesday what to make of the party Chairman Imran Khan's decision to call off his Islamabad lockdown plan that he had been pursuing with a bang that, to their minds, ended in a whimper. Also, the PPP as well as certain media persons looking for some more excitement criticised the 'Kaptaan', accusing him of making a U-turn. It looked like a climb down to many because the Kaptaan himself had been creating the hype, insisting he would go ahead with the Islamabad lockdown plan, irrespective of the scheduled court hearing of the Panama Papers corruption case involving the Prime Minister and his children.
During the last few days, Imran regularly holding forth several times a day at a media dais outside his Banigala residence had kept iterating nothing would stop him and a sea of people from reaching Islamabad on November 2, charging up his party activists, supporters and sympathisers. Still, as the government prepared to deal with the protesters marshaling all resources at its disposal, many doubted the PTI's mostly well-educated urban activists' ability to withstand police crackdown, road blockades with cargo containers and other obstructions. In the event, they proved to be pretty determined. They kept gathering outside his Banigala residence dodging police pickets, facing tear gas and baton charge. Those coming from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa led by Chief Minister Parvez Khattak pressed on towards the party Chairman's house confronting the fearsome Punjab Police, and braving massive tear gassing, even rubber bullets. Many felt cheated when Imran suddenly made the decision he made claiming victory.
He, however, had good reason to claim vindication of his stance, explaining that he was calling off the lockdown on the "apex court assurance that Nawaz Sharif's accountability will start" from November 5, and that the Prime Minister's 'talashi' (search for looted money) is to start. That is what the party had been agitating for all along. Before going on the confrontation path the PTI had asked Nawaz Sharif either to step down or present himself for accountability in a judicial commission under the joint opposition's terms of reference (ToRs) approved by the upper house -and readily rejected by the government. The first demand has been met. The apex court has asked the parties concerned to arrive at consensus ToRs for the proposed judicial commission to probe the Panama Papers case, which is unlikely given that the government has consistently been refusing to accept the opposition's TORs. The five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali made it clear, however, that the Court would formulate its own ToRs in case the two sides failed to reach a consensus between them. The government lawyers did not raise any objection. Equally important, the Court also removed any concern about the case taking forever to reach a conclusion. The CJ observed that at hand is a high profile case, and the Court is determined to conduct its proceedings on a day-to-day basis. A Supreme Court judge is to head the commission with authority similar to that of the apex court. In other words, all the investigation agencies will take orders from the judge rather than the executive. The Court will then take up the commission's report for adjudication and issue a binding order.
Notably, the bench also indicated that formation of a commission may not necessarily be the way forward. In its order the bench noted that "a proposal as regards appointment of commission has also come under consideration before the court, to which, prima facie, all the stakeholder have shown their inclination", asking them to submit their statements/formulations for consideration at the next hearing regarding terms of reference for consideration "in case the Court comes to the conclusion that appointment of the commission will be expedient for the just and quick disposal of these petitions."
It goes without saying that whatever the ultimate arbiter decides is the only way to resolve to this case of alleged corruption at the highest level of government - an issue much larger than power contentions between political parties. Considering the court's observations and order, it made little sense for the PTI to continue its protest campaign. It made a perfectly right decision. Whatever the outcome the credit to bring the case this far goes to the PTI. Had it not been for Imran Khan's tireless campaign over the last seven months, by now the issue would be dead in the water. Although eight other political parties joined in - out of fear of looking bad in the public eye for condoning corruption - they had little enthusiasm for taking the case to a logical conclusion since several of them face similar charges.
The case has laid it bare how the entire accountability system is rigged in favour of the rulers. All the relevant institutions - the National Accountability Bureau, the Federal Investigation Agency, the Federal Bureau of Revenue, and the State Bank of Pakistan - washed their hands off the case. The Election Commission kept dilly-dallying on the disqualification petitions. The Supreme Court registrar too had returned the petitions moved, aside from the PTI, by the Jamaat-i-Islami, AML's Sheikh Rashid, and a private individual terming them as 'frivolous. The PTI kept the issue alive with its public pressure campaign. Imran therefore is justified in claiming he has managed to force the Prime Minister to give 'talashi'. The bang has not really ended in a whimper as his detractors are suggesting. Has it?
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