Parliament vs judiciary (part-2)
A year ago I had written on the same topic when a tussle erupted between the parliament and judiciary following Supreme Court’s verdict on holding early elections of Punjab provincial assembly after it was dissolved prematurely.
The impugned decision pitted both the state institutions against each other on the issue of holding elections in Punjab on the deadline given by the apex court after Imran Khan dissolved the provincial assemblies of Punjab and KPK prematurely with the hope that it would pave the way for early general elections in the country. Quite unheard of in the history of Judiciary, the Supreme Court set a deadline of 14 May 2023 for holding the polls in Punjab which couldn’t be held for obvious reasons.
Constitutionally, fixing the date for holding elections whether general elections or provincial, lies outside the purview of Judiciary as it’s the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to fix the date and conduct the polls. So the decision fixing the date for polls by the Judiciary was considered as an encroachment upon the authority of the Executive and the Election Commission of Pakistan and an intrusion into their well-defined domain.
The federal government declined to obey the apex court’s order willy nilly, expressing its inability to hold the elections on the said date citing various reasons including financial and security reasons.
A year after, almost a similar situation of confrontation, though contextually quite different, has arisen, and a showdown between the two key pillars of the state once again seems imminent which would be highly unfortunate if it so happens. The war of words is going on with fierce intensity between the parliamentarians and the Judges. Both sides have dug in their heels deep and are not ready to budge even an inch from their position.
They have taken their gloves off challenging each other for a bout. The situation has taken an ugly turn with the Prime Minister jumping into the fray. However, it’s hard to predict as to who would be the winner. However, if the country’s turbulent history of such conflicts be any guide, it’s always the executive which has remained the loser as we have seen elected PMs having been shown the door one after the other.
The fundamental question which has been the bone of contention, still remains unanswered as to which one out of the two institutions is supreme, the parliament or the judiciary? In this regard, it’s quite intriguing to see both sides making desperate attempts to prove the superiority of one over the other. The mantra of the often- repeated phrase ‘parliament is supreme’ chanted by the parliamentarians seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
Theoretically and constitutionally speaking, parliament is supreme, but practically speaking, judiciary wields decisive powers as it can strike down any law enacted by the parliament interpreting it as opposed to fundamental human rights or declaring it as ultra vires of the constitution. So the sweeping powers enjoyed by the top judiciary remain unassailable.
The current controversy triggered after certain honourable judges of the superior judiciary passed intimidating remarks during hearing of the cases to summon the PM and his entire cabinet before the court, and after an honorable judge of the apex court passed derogatory remarks like ‘proxy’ against a parliamentarian, thus inviting criticism from the parliamentarians at large and sparking a diatribe and verbal onslaught by the parliamentarians in the parliament against the judiciary.
The targeted parliamentarian couldn’t digest the slighting remark and went for a ‘tit-for-tat’ response, thus inviting the inevitable, i.e. contempt notice from the apex court served to him and to another parliamentarian who had joined the chorus. This kind of belligerent mood displayed by either side doesn’t bode well for the country and needs to stop at some point as it can’t go on ad infinitum.
As if political polarization was not enough to destabilize the country, an ominous conflict has once again erupted between the parliament and judiciary which the country can ill afford. The country is already torn apart politically which has rocked its foundations to the core. The country is experiencing the worst kind of political polarization engulfing the entire political landscape of the country, thus creating a chaotic situation which is getting on the nerves of the public with every passing day and is adversely impacting the country’s economy and security environment.
In such a dismal scenario, both sides need to exhibit restraint, see reason, let the sanity prevail and make peace in the larger interest of the country. Moreover, being the ultimate arbiter, the apex court has a greater responsibility to show kindness, patience, magnanimity, and extra leniency. Both the key institutions need to realize that crossing swords with each other will not only fatally undermine their authority but will also make the country vulnerable to hostile forces to capitalize on and to break the weak link in the chain.
The temperature, unfortunately, has reached the boiling point which needs to be brought down to a bearable level. Herein lies our salvation. Nation expects the judiciary and the parliament to deal with this issue as an aberration committed twice and never to be repeated, and for that to happen, both sides need to shun belligerency and show patience and magnanimity. This would provide a healing balm for the pangs of those living in a highly polarized society.