ISLAMABAD: The Ex-Servicemen Legal Forum (ESLF), an association of retired officers from the military’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) Branch, have expressed concerns about the exclusion of judges and generals from the ambit of the proposed national accountability commission (NAC).
The ESLF comprises retired JAG officers who began practicing in the constitutional courts after their retirement.
At a meeting held at the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi registry, the forum’s executive committee passed a resolution demanding that parliament include the superior judiciary and the armed forces in the “proposed bill of accountability”.
Superior judiciary, army are not above the law, ex-servicemen’s forum says in resolution
The parliamentary committee constituted to overhaul accountability laws recently announced that the political parties had unanimously decided to exclude judges and generals from the commission’s jurisdiction.
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Jamaat-i-Islami had earlier objected to the NAC bill, apparently to block any legislation seeking the accountability of generals and judges.
On Nov 2, the PPP withdrew its demand to include the superior judiciary and army in the bill, and the PML-N also joined the parties in opposing accountability for the military and judiciary.
In its resolution, the ESLF said that the subordinate judiciary, from civil judges to sessions judges, are subject to accountability laws, while the legislature had exempted the superior judiciary. Similarly, the senior military hierarchy has also been excluded from the domain of the proposed law, it said.
Under Article 209, a judge accused of misconduct faces trial before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
The SJC has not convicted a single judge for corruption since 1973, but the council was reactivated in 2015 by then chief justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, and took up complaints against serving judges.
Last year, serving LHC Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi challenged the SJC’s procedure and filed a petition before the Supreme Court, while Islamabad High Court Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui in his petition filed under Article 184/3 recently expressed concerns over the SJC’s in camera proceedings and demanded an open trial.
The ESLF alleged that most judges facing complaints of corruption are allowed to resign and avail a large pension and post-retirement benefits, because references against judges become infructuous after their retirement.
Similarly, the army proceeds against armed forces personnel under the Pakistan Army Act. The resolution said that senior military officers sacked by former chief of army staff retired Gen Raheel Sharif, including a lieutenant general and a major general, “are allowed to retire with benefits”.
The resolution states that not including judges and generals in the ambit of accountability laws amounted to “manipulation” and “abused the due process of law, which cannot be allowed in any society which claims rule of law”.
It said that, like other segments of society, the superior judiciary and armed forces “are not above the law”, and the time had come that everyone “involved in corruption must be taken to task”.
Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2017
