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Journalism of Courage
ISLAMABAD, Jan 12: The latest spat between the Supreme Court and the Sharif Government got the semblance of a major war today. A defiant Sharif declared he would to ahead with plans to set up more military courts and across Pakistan as a determined apex court restored powers of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Sindh provincial assembly declaring the government order to suspend their powers as unlawful’.
These moves come after the Supreme Court stayed execution of death sentences awarded by the controversial courts in Sindh and strongly opposed their validity and functioning.
Interior minister Choudhury Shujaat hussain confirmed that the government is working on an ordinance for setting up more military courts in line with those established in Sindh in terrorism-prone’ areas, media reports said.
He said his ministry has already sent the draft of the proposed ordinance to the law ministry and the ordinance is likely to be promulgated after the current session of the national assembly (lower house)was prorogued, a report in the English daily, The Nation, claimed.
“For the moment, we want to have the law in hand, but we would establish military courts when necessary in areas where incidents of terrorism are more,” Hussain was quoted by the paper as saying, thus hinting that the government wanted to be complete with the spadework for setting up more such courts.
The minister’s assertion on setting up of military courts in other parts of the country came on Monday, the day the Pakistan Supreme Court stayed execution of death sentences by a similar court in Karachi till the disposal of petitions challenging its validity.
The court passed the order after hearing at least six petitions challenging the setting up of the military courts in Karachi following imposition of governor’s rule in the southern province of Sindh in October last year.
But hitting contrary to these trends, a seven-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Ajmal Mian passed a brief order today after hearing apetition field by the Deputy Speaker of the Sindh assembly, Jalal Mahmood Shah, challenging the government order of November 10, last year.
The Supreme Court declared that the government order was, “without lawful authority and of no legal effect”.
The government had issued the order after the Deputy Speaker, who belongs to the Mohajir Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), convened the session of the Sindh assembly which had neither been dissolved nor suspended after the imposition of governor’s rule in the province.
The government fearing that the MQM may join hands with the main oppositon, Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, inside the assembly and try to form another government, suspended the powers of both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker through an administrative order.
Sharif had earlier, imposed governor’s rule in Sindh on October 30 after MQM decided to withdraw support from the Pakistan Muslim League government in the province but refrained from dissolving the assembly thus leaving theoption for the revival of the alliance.
