JURIST Guest Columnist Moeen Cheema, professor of Law & Policy at the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan, says that the play of General Pervez Musharraf's newly-appointed Supreme Court overturning the rulings of the constitutional Supreme Court led by ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is almost too farcical to be characterized as a tragedy…

It must be noted that this is a unique Martial Law in Pakistan: it is targeted very specifically against the judiciary, the lawyers’ fraternity and the media. Although it is no laughing matter, the absurdity of the pretend Supreme Court bench’s first proclamation should bring a hint of a smile to the faces of the lawyers presently behind bars for protesting against the imposition of Martial Law in the country and ought not to be taken very seriously by the media which is now under siege.

In the immediate aftermath of the declaration of emergency and the simultaneous suspension of the constitution, a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court issued an interim order (the “Order”) invalidating the unconstitutional actions of General Parvez Musharraf. The Order was passed pursuant to an application by Aitzaz Ahsan, the most prominent leader of the lawyers’ rebellion earlier this year supporting the reinstatement of Chief Justice Chaudhry. The Order prospectively nullified the removal of any member of the superior judiciary from office and any judicial appointments that would take place pursuant to the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO). In short, constitutionally, the composition of the Supreme Court and the High Courts stands exactly as it was before the Martial Law.

Disregarding the Supreme Court’s Order, the General has attempted to reconstitute the superior courts by forcing some of the judges to take an oath under the PCO. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar was administered an oath of allegiance under the PCO by the military dictator himself and is now the pretend-CJ of Pakistan. His first action after taking the oath of an office he does not hold, was to deny that the Order invalidating the PCO was ever passed by the seven-member bench of the real Supreme Court.

The military regime has put tremendous pressure on some Supreme Court judges to follow the lead of Justice Dogar. However, thus far only three other justices have complied. In the face of such defiance from the Supreme Court judges, the regime has now been forced to find four other gentlemen who may act out the roles of Supreme Court judges. On Tuesday, the Mock Supreme Court met in an empty building on Constitution Avenue and reversed the Order which supposedly did not exist! This play is almost too farcical to be characterized as a tragedy.

Ironically, one of the grounds on which the Mock Court has declared the Order of the Supreme Court to be invalid is that the said Order was passed without giving the government’s lawyers an audience. Don’t be surprised when the same Mock Court decides moot cases in favor of the regime and validates General Musharraf’s occupation of the Presidential office in some direct or indirect way in the lonesome company of the government’s lawyers. The overwhelming majority of lawyers in Pakistan do not see any humor in this and are determined to boycott this puppet show.

Moeen Cheema is an Assistant Professor of Law & Policy at the Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan

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