ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) — the regulatory body of lawyers — on Friday deplored what it called a “vilification campaign” against the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, as well as against the armed forces in the wake of the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif as prime minister.

In a joint statement, Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon, the council’s vice chairman, and Hafeezur Rehman, who heads its executive committee, alleged that the campaign against the judiciary had been launched at the behest of the ruling party.

The PBC office-bearers were commenting on a recent press talk by rights activist Asma Jahangir in which she asked why only politicians had been held accountable since the inception of the country.

SCBA chief says move to curtail SC jurisdiction under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution will be opposed

Mr Bhoon and Mr Rehman said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and other members of his family had been tried on charges of money laundering and for having bought properties in other countries worth billions of rupees.

The entire legal fraternity, the PBC leaders said, was unanimous in hailing the verdict since it was the first time in the country’s history that the Supreme Court had given a decision against a sitting prime minister.

“Any move to undermine the prestige and dignity of the Supreme Court and the armed forces will be resisted with full force and the legal fraternity will not hesitate to go to any extent for protecting the judiciary as it is the nation’s last hope,” Mr Bhoon said.

He recalled that the apex court had won the nation’s gratitude over the last decade by giving landmark judgements in important cases.

The PBC vice chairman also deplored attempts to “malign the armed forces”.

Rasheed A. Rizvi, the Supreme Court Bar Association’s president, said it was wrong to cast aspersions on the judiciary or to insinuate that the judgement against Nawaz Sharif was the result of “pressure by outside elements” or the establishment.

But he conceded that every judgement had errors on the face of it and that every individual had the right to appeal.

Mr Rizvi said the SCBA had called a meeting in Quetta on Aug 7 to “deliberate upon the consequences” of the July 28 judgement. “We will support any parliamentary move to amend Article 184 (3) of the Constitution in order to give an individual the right to appeal”.

But at the same time, Mr Rizvi asserted, the bar would resist attempts to curtail the apex court’s jurisdiction through the amendment.

He supported the suggestion that the accountability process should be widened to bring generals, judges and bureaucrats under its net.

In an allusion to Mr Jahangir’s tirade, the SCBA president said it was unbecoming of a senior lawyer to make sweeping statements against the judiciary.

Published in Dawn, August 5th, 2017