ISLAMABAD: The top lawyers' bodies, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), have urged upon the "Establishment" to act in accordance with dictates of the Constitution, and must refrain from resorting to any extra Constitutional action.
Vice-Chairman PBC Abid Saqi, President SCBA Syed Qalb-i-Hassan and Chairman, Executive Committee of the Council took strong exception to the reported abduction of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Sindh, from his residence, by the agencies and forced him to issue orders for the arrest of Capt (retired) Muhammad Safdar as widely reported in the print and electronic media.
"Ironically no categorical contradiction or denial of said reports of abduction, has so for been made by the concerned authorities whereas the Government of Sindh has tacitly confirmed the same," said the statement issued by the PBC secretary on Thursday.
The legal fraternity has particularly noted that, of late, the federal government remains ever willing to let down the Government of Sindh on one pretext or another, which it disapproves.
By resorting to such crude and illegal action, even the privacy of a female leader of the opposition party, Maryam Nawaz, the Vice-President of PML-N, has been violated, which neither our religion nor our culture and Law, and/or any ethic, permits.
"Such an unprecedent interference by the agencies in the police functioning is a glaring attempt to subdue the civil authority of a democratically elected Government and thus amounts to State terrorism aiming at to victimise the political opponents which is highly condemnable," the statement said.
Such unconstitutional pursuits of the establishment, if allowed to go unchecked, would pose serious threat not only to the democratic system of government presently in vogue, but also to the Rule of Law, the judicial system and the Constitutionalism.
"The chequered history of our country, mostly on account of adventures and unconstitutional interventions by the establishment, has always detracted Pakistan, from the path of democracy resulting in instability and severe set-back to the progress of vital State Institutions, e.g. the Judiciary, the Parliament & the neutral and competent bureaucracy, which entailed far reaching adverse effects on progress of the country and also undermined and breached fundamental rights of the people."
They stated that it is highly painful that instead of learning lessons from the past bitter experiences, for not following the Constitution in governing the State affairs, still resorting to the nefarious tactics and actions which, God forbid, may lead to further destruction of our vital State Institutions.
"As such all the State institutions, specially the Establishment, will have to follow, with all sincerity, the Constitution, by remaining within their respective assigned spheres of activity, only through which our Country can grow and progress."
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020