The state apparatus in the Land of the Pure behaves like an omnipotent imperial power that is above all laws and unaccountable to the requirements of the due process. Early this year after all taxes had been paid, I received a ‘Last Notice’ from the Excise and Taxation Department with clear directions for personal appearance.
During the hearing I was told that the department had changed the assessment, as such additional tax was due. I requested copies of the mandated three notices before which the final was issued. The inspector was unable to produce them as they were never issued in total violation of the process. The Director issued instructions for withdrawal of the ‘Last Notice ,’ which in actuality was the first. Such infringements of citizen’s rights have become the norm in most government departments. Instead of facilitation, exploitation has become the norm which must be contained and corrected. Public anger is on the rise due to such misuse of authority and power called ‘ Badmashi ‘.
A few years back my late mother received a notice for personal appearance from the Wealth Tax Directorate. I appeared on her behalf. During a shifting of office, the department had lost the files which it wanted to rebuild. They wanted copies of my file.
In utter surprise I asked them the purpose of issuing a notice for personal appearance. Papers could have been sent through mail.
To resolve the case, I asked them to ask for the record in writing which they refused as it exposed their inefficiency and lack of empathy for the assessee. The notices kept coming and became an irritant. Finally, I decided to meet my old school friend who was the Income Tax Commissioner at that time. He called the concerned officer who promised to stop the notices only if I provided a complete copy of my file.
Friendly advice was to comply with an assurance that the harassment would be stopped once the departmental file has been reconstructed. It was a act of arm twisting which even I could not avoid despite my links and standing. Record keeping is poor in most offices which needs major attention for efficient governance. The onus for record has been unilaterally shifted to the public, and the departments create unnecessary hurdles by misusing their unlimited authority.
Initially it was the power of bribe which later on turned into misuse of state power to grow the business. Such abuse of laid-down procedures has produced several blunders like the Sahiwal Coal Fired Plant, an environmental disaster, and the Orange Line, a financial drain, both unfortunately in Lahore. State apparatus is mandated to follow the due process and obey only legal orders or face the consequences of law. There can be no ‘ Blanket Mafi’ ‘ any longer. This ‘Badmashi’ prevalent in Punjab must end for normalcy to return.
Public harassment continues unabated. The departmental heads do not ensure observance of the required due process to make it legal. The recent abduction of the most popular leader from the premises of the court calls for serious action. The Chairman NAB who signed the arrest warrant should be called by the court to explain his lapse. Aftab Sultan, the previous head of NAB, a professional intelligence bureaucrat, refused to sign the warrants, and instead he decided to step down.
He was replaced by Lt Gen (retd) Nazir Ahmed Butt who had spent all his professional life in the units/barracks and lacked the expertise of his new job. He signed the warrants and went abroad as if it was a routine matter. Then the Director General Rangers allowed his men to enter the court premises to abduct IK for NAB custody. It was a serious infringement which should not go unpunished.
From the NAB office in Rawalpindi, IK was moved to the Police Lines in Islamabad where a special court was set up again in violation of law. Every accused is entitled to an open public trial, it’s the basic requirement of Common Law.
In the Bhutto trial an attempt was made to conduct the court proceedings within the Kot Lakhpat jail which was resisted. Bhutto was driven from his prison cell for court appearance. As a young engineer working in PITAC located on the Canal Bridge I had the chance of waving to the Quaid-e-Awam as he was being driven to the hostile court of Justice Maulvi Mushtaq.
He was always poised and well dressed. Despite the court abuse his conduct was dignified. Those who celebrated his judicial murder in 1979 now have started to eulogize him as a great leader of his times. This hypocrisy of establishment-created politicians must be exposed. Those who hunt with the hound cannot run with the hare when it suits them.
In the much hyped arrest of Rana Sanaullah in the narcotics case, the arrest was carried out by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) headed by a DG in uniform who signed his arrest warrants. As Interior Minister Rana Sb should take the DG to task.
An inquiry must be conducted to protect the innocent by punishing those who cross the lines. It is all about due process which must be enforced for justice and fair play. Ministers do not have executive authority, as such they do not sign warrants but are made to carry the blame. Arrests must come at the end of the due process, not at the start. Bail is the right of the accused which should not be taken away before conviction. In the Bhutto trial, Bhutto was bailed out by Mr Justice K.M.A. Samdani of the Lahore High Court, to be arrested under the Martial Law Regulation and then tried in internment. Infringements through executive abuse must be made punishable, providing relief to the aggrieved party is not enough; the perpetrators should also be punished. Courts have to ensure individual liberty at all costs. ‘ Kitnay Notice‘(How many notices?) is the right approach to contain rampant executive abuse and enforcement of due process.
Mrr Justice Athar Minallah, while hearing the case of abduction of Imran Khan on April 9,
from the premises of Islamabad High Court asked a simple question; “How many notices were served”? The NAB investigator reluctantly replied, “One”. In his defense next day at the IHC the brilliant Khawaja Haris explained to the court that three notices are required before any arrest warrants can be issued; that too if the replies are not submitted by the accused.
Due process has to be followed for law to take its course. While the NAB laws are draconian, the ‘Sharif Adhocism’ has destroyed civilian institutions and the due process that is mandatory. Mian Muhammad Sharif,who ran a small foundry with his six brothers in Ram Gali, adopted a simple approach to meet his objectives:Â “Every man has a price. Pay and get the job done”
For him procedures, rules, regulations carried no weight. In serious conflict of interest business specific SROs were issued in the morning and then withdrawn in the evening after the goods were cleared.
Initially it was the power of bribe which later on turned into misuse of state power to grow the business. Such abuse of laid-down procedures has produced several blunders like the Sahiwal Coal Fired Plant, an environmental disaster, and the Orange Line, a financial drain, both unfortunately in Lahore. State apparatus is mandated to follow the due process and obey only legal orders or face the consequences of law. There can be no ‘ Blanket Mafi’ ‘ any longer. This ‘Badmashi’ prevalent in Punjab must end for normalcy to return.
