This is with reference to the report “Plea seeking Punjab PA restoration dismissed as ‘unnecessary’” (May 9), which, among other things, mentioned that the petitioner had also been fined a sum of Rs100,000 for filing a frivolous petition, implying that it was a wastage of the court’s time. I wonder why the judges do not flatly refuse to take up cases of political nature and direct the politicians to settle political disputes among themselves.
Why is the judiciary unable to focus on the backlog of thousands of cases pending before the Supreme Court? This is perhaps because political cases are considered high profile even if they do not go beyond the first hearing. The rest of the cases are merely ‘normal’ ones that do not attract public attention. I wonder if that really is the reason behind our current practice.
It is wonderful that the judiciary is protecting the Constitution, but what about the rights of the teeming millions that have been guaranteed by the same Constitution?
What about article 25-A of the Constitution which guarantees free education to every child aged 5-16 years? The courts have never opened up late night or stood firm for months to ensure the education of more than 22 million out-of-school children in Pakistan.
The Constitution guarantees life and liberty to the citizens, but thousands of less fortunate fall victim to crimes, die of preventable diseases and commit suicides due to extreme poverty unleashed by the system, but there has never been a corresponding suo motu action. The authorities concerned need to be forced to ensure compliance with constitutional provisions relating to the common man, but who will do that?
The Constitution also makes production of arrested persons before a magistrate mandatory, but police keep helpless souls behind bars for days and weeks without registering any cases. There has to be a strict — visibly strict — resolve to prevent innumerable violations of the Constitution on a daily basis, but cases of political nature continue to consume the precious time of the courts.
We have had several designated courts, like anti-terrorism courts, banking courts, labour courts, etc. There is a desperate need to form people’s courts to protect the rights of the have-nots. The present system is geared largely to protect the rights of the privileged, and has no time to look into matters related to the wretched of the earth.
GULSHER PANHWER
JOHI
