At 0230 hours on the morning of Monday April 28 an elderly ailing widow was dragged out of her house by a team of men from the National Accountability Bureau and arrested. Ms Shamim Alim was transported in a truck to the women's police station, and later to Central Prison Karachi, and incarcerated for an alleged irregularity supposedly committed by her dead husband many years ago.
This newspaper, pulling no punches, editorialized on April 30 on this deplorable incident. I happened to meet the Director-General of Karachi's NAB, Major-General Ijaz Ahmad Bakhshi, at lunch the same day, but failed to convince him that he and his bravados had done wrong. However, luckily for Ms Alim and for the people at large, Chief Justice of Pakistan Shaikh Riaz Ahmad, on hearing of the incident, termed it 'shocking' and has taken suo motu action. This means there will be a voluminous exchange of reports, questions and counter-questions will ensue, time will pass by. Can our Chief Justice not, in the meantime, order that the widow be released on bail?
One other of NAB's arbitrary selection of victims is the former civil servant Javed Burki, who was arrested in Islamabad on December 18 2002. On December 20 he was handcuffed for all to see and taken to Karachi. The next day he was again handcuffed, produced in court, and then taken to our Central Prison. And for what? For decisions allegedly taken by him, whilst chairman of PACO in the early 1990s, which have allegedly caused a loss to the exchequer!
Burki's bail application was admitted for hearing in the Sindh High Court early this year. Each time his case came up it was part heard and hearings were adjourned for a week or so. Bail hearings should be continued day after day, never adjourned. Judgment last week was reserved and he and his family patiently wait on. What price justice?
What price liberty?
As for his having been handcuffed, Javed should be assured he is in good company. A few days after Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was handed the custody of this country in December 1971, he had General Habibullah arrested and imprisoned, and so that he could have a good snigger at the general's expense, ordered that he be shown in his cuffs on PTV. The general rose in esteem, had to be soon released, and went on to prosper. His tormentor ended his life on the gallows.Now we move on to quite another matter. Since I often write on environmental issues, with particular stress on the corruption within the Karachi Building Control Authority, readers have somehow gained the impression that I wield 'clout' and that a word from me could solve their problems.
Frequently I receive e-mails, letters or telephone calls from citizens of Karachi which recount the problems they face in the localities in which they live, seeking my help. Many close with the sentence : 'Please do not disclose my name,' or 'I cannot disclose my name or address for obvious reasons.' Such people, of course, cannot be helped.
One case in point : the privacy and rights of a friend living in Civil Lines, Karachi, was put in jeopardy by buildings under construction, opposite his house, which he considered to be totally inadmissible under the law. My sister-in-law who lives in the same area was similarly threatened. The builders-developers were obviously in collusion with the corrupt men of the KBCA. I was requested to come to the aid of the environment.
Prima facie, they had a sound case, so I suggested they consult Barrister Mohammad Gilbert Naim-ur-Rahman. He recommended that they move the High Court of Sindh. Retired Judge Dorab Patel, also living in the same locality, and also affected, agreed that we must move the court.
Petitions 549 and 550 of 1997 were filed, and the High Court ruled that the illegal and unauthorized portions of the buildings were to be demolished.
Apprehending that the builders would appeal to the Supreme Court, a caveat was filed and then (as my dear departed friend and lawyer Dingomal Ramchandani would have said), 'lo and behold' there appeared on the scene to defend the builders my other good friend still in this world, Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, whom I have affectionately dubbed 'the jadoogar of Jeddah'. For Sharifuddin's ability and agility I have nothing but respect. He works extremely hard, his knowledge of law and his finesse at pulling out of hats the oddest of rabbits is admirable. He often opposes me in cases, which, of course, is quite natural and to which I can possibly have no objection. Many of our top lawyers, ignoring their affiliations, adhere to the taxi-cab rank system - first come, first served and fare gladly accepted.
The builders filed appeals in the Supreme Court which were heard on November 1, 2001, and, despite the protestations of the respondents' advocate on record who happened to be in the court and told the honourable judges that a caveat had been filed and no notice had been served either on him or on Gilbert regarding the listing of the case, the case was heard ex-parte and the judges ruled:
"After hearing the learned counsel for the petitioner at some length, we feel it necessary to hear the other side. Adjourned to a date in the last week of November, 2001. Office shall issue notices to the respondents for the next date. In the meantime, operation of the impugned judgment is suspended."
The case was listed for hearing on November 29, 2001. At the last minute it was delisted at the request of Sharifuddin. The listing and delisting continued. The case was listed for hearing on June 10, 2002, February 3, 2003, February 21, 2003, March 6, 2003, April 15, 2003 and on each occasion delisted. By mutual consent the last listing was for April 29 and this was again delisted.
The consequence of all this listing and delisting is that the stay order continues despite the lapse of eighteen months. What was the reaction of my friends whom I had told to go to court? They could but tell me I was a wise fool.
When in Karachi, Sharifuddin often breakfasts with me on Sundays. We laugh at the vagaries of life and he enlightens me as to the whys and wherefores of the unsustainability of our governments. He is not sanctimonious, he has no airs and graces (unlike many others I have to suffer), he is good natured and maintains a remarkable cool.
Last Sunday I told him that the respondents in the case must bring to the notice of the Chief Justice of Pakistan the facts and circumstances of the delistings. He sportingly agreed that it was their right to so do. When they are heard in the Supreme Court, I told him, the respondents will plead that the upright and just honourable judges should, in all fairness, consider the pleadings as if they were being heard on November 29, 2001. This they should do so as to take into account the then state of construction/occupation, that is, how far it had progressed at that time, and not the state of the buildings/occupation as it now is after the delay of a year and a half.
From the time the petition was filed in the High Court of Sindh on March 6, 1997, over six years have passed. One petitioner, Dorab Patel, my old friend, has died. One other walks on crutches; another's husband is confined to a wheelchair; the rest have lost on an average a tenth of their life span.
As for life spans, that of the former Naib Amir of the Jamaat-i-Islam, Maulana Jan Mohammad Abbasi, came to an end this April 28. He was a man who earned the respect of many way back in the era of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In January 1977, when Bhutto decided to try to save himself by arranging for a 'fixed' general election in March, Abbasi was the sole man to dare to declare he would stand against him in Bhutto's home constituency of Larkana. Times being what they were, he felt he had a fair chance of winning. His daring did him in. Bhutto had him 'kidnapped' whilst he was on his way to file his nomination papers as he did six others who had dared to stand against talented cousin Mumtaz Bhutto on his home ground. When the nomination filing time expired and the return of the two Bhuttos was declared 'unopposed' the seven men were released. Abbasi was a brave man. May he rest in peace.