The government has its credentials on display yet again. The Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq informed the Supreme Court on Friday that the government would not be restoring its bête-noir Zafar Qureshi to the NICL investigation. The response of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was that if the government chose not to abide by the rulings of the Supreme Court, then the court would form a judicial commission to examine the matter. The NICL scam, let us remind ourselves, involves the misappropriation of billions of rupees allegedly by some very ‘prominent’ and influential figures. The government has fought the Supreme Court and the investigating officers tooth and nail for months, knowing that if due process and diligent police work follow through to a satisfactory outcome, the big names may have a hard time. This is a government that almost like no other is in denial-mode when it comes to corruption, and to have to confront a finding of guilt in the NICL case is its worst nightmare.
It is not often that we can point a finger at an officer of the law and say ‘there stands a good man’, but that would appear to be the case with Zafar Qureshi who was leading the investigation of the NICL scam. He was leading it with some success, enough success for the powers that be to grease the stairs for him and four of his colleagues and engineer their transfer to far-flung corners of the state. The banished foursome has been reinstated after intense pressure, but Qureshi remains in banishment. The Supreme Court has jousted with the government, attempting to ensure that the investigation stayed on-track and the joust has now turned into mortal combat. The court wants to see the restoration of our national wealth to the exchequer and the dispensation of natural justice; the government wants to protect corrupt and criminal elements at the heart of the establishment and avoid justice of any description at whatever cost - even if the cost is the sacrifice of honest officers doing an honest job. The Supreme Court stands between a rapacious government and the rule of law. It is not difficult to know which of them deserves the full and unstinting support of this nation.
Copyright TheNews 16.7.2011
