But why stop here then? Why stop at establishing military courts just for counter-terrorism? The rot and inefficiency of our judicial organ (for which the Bar is equally to be blamed!) is far deeper in other areas of litigation. Why should the 80-year old Allah Ditta spend the rest of his feeble days chasing after the trial of his son’s murder, which has been stuck in the Sessions court for almost a decade? Why must Bashiran Bibi suffer the slings of our civil courts, for the better part of her life, before she and her daughters can see a penny from the husband’s inheritance? Is their pain invisible to our conscience simply because it is not dripping in blood? Does our society, nay, our humanity, place such unfortunate individuals at a lower pedestal than the Swiss Letter case or Dr. Arslan Iftikhar saga? In case we do, and are therefore comfortable persisting with our current disposition, then may Allah have mercy upon our squalid souls! And if we do not, then should we dispense with the entire constitutional judiciary, and instead create military criminal courts, military inheritance courts, military land courts, and military corporate courts? Woefully, we may not be too far from the day that our people clamor for such alternatives. The ball is now in the judiciary’s court. In recognition of our judicial failure, military courts for counter-terrorism (which is the need of the hour) will soon be a constitutional reality. However, will our nation descend into any further measure of the sort, is really up to the judges and lawyers in this country. Apparently, the honorable Chief Justice called a meeting this week to urge that terrorism cases be given priority through out our courts. But the time for such meetings is now over. A bereaved nation can no longer be consoled through statements of intent. Our legal fraternity, as well as the judiciary, now face a nation that no longer believes in the value, efficiency and effectiveness of our courts. nation.pk/columns/28-Dec-2014/judicial-failure
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:51:12 +0000
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