A
week back, the nation was dumbfounded, and shocked, by the revelation of
family-gate and related developments. As per the story, Malik Riaz, a real-estate
tycoon, facing numerous cases in the courts of law, had spent a considerable
amount to entice Arsalan Iftikhar and the latter, somehow, fell into the trap
and enjoyed a life-style not commensurate with his position. While the politicians preferred to shy away,
the Media, as usual, came in the forefront to present differing viewpoints on
the issue, some terming it as a conspiracy against the Judiciary while the
others felt that there was meat in the ‘story’.
The
anxiety was turned into hope when CJ, in an unprecedented move, took a suo moto
action on what may be ascribed as ‘hearsay’. People thought that not only
speedy justice would be provided in whatever transpired between Malik Riaz and
Arsalan Iftikhar but also those involved in the conspiracy, if any, would be
exposed. As the proceedings progressed, people also hoped that in the process
all those who had been financially benefited or bribed by Malik Riaz for
gaining certain advantages would also be exposed. Unfortunately, this was not
to be.
To
start with, in this case there was no complainant, no defendant, not even an
FIR, yet the CJ took suo moto action.
May be, in his perception, the action was justified as judiciary’s image was at
stake. The bench has, however, now ruled that “reputation of judiciary stood
cleared” just by Malik Riaz’s statement, notwithstanding what Malik Riaz said
in the press conference, in an interview on TV and the fact that a number of
black coats are out on the streets to show solidarity with the CJ. It seems
that the bench has hurriedly drawn this conclusion to pass on the bucket as it
did not want to tackle the major issues stemming from this case – allegations
on Arsalan, conspiracy to tarnish judiciary’s image and exposure of Malik
Riaz’s beneficiaries.
It is now a matter of record that within a span of
few years, Arsalan Iftikhar’s business, whatever it is, has expanded at
unprecedented pace. The allegations by Malik Riaz are also substantiated by
written documents (though not of entire amount). However, the case has been
handed over to the government for further investigations which itself is facing
numerous charges and prone to blackmail and compromise. The trust reposed in
the government investigation agencies in this case is, to say the least,
intriguing.
All indicators are that Malik Riaz could not have
done it alone and, complicity of the government, due to numerous reasons, could
not be ruled out. Now that the case has been handed over to the AG, part of the
government, any possibility of investigation into a conspiracy to tarnish
the image of judiciary has been closed.
Besides,
being very close to the ruling elite, a manifestation of which we saw in the
protocol given to him, it is unlikely that Malik Riaz would be probed about
those obliged by him with bribes and other benefits.
As
such, by referring the case to AG, the matter is practically closed or, should
we say, hushed up, especially with regard to conspiracy and Malik Riaz’s
beneficiaries. Judiciary has lost an opportunity to consolidate their hard-won
independence. Probably the price, this time, was too high, higher than those
who sacrificed their lives during the struggle for independence of
judiciary.
No comments:
Post a Comment