At several junctures in 2017, Pakistani courts dominated
headlines across media outlets. The role of judiciary was hailed by
some, slandered by others — its impact on the country's political and
social climate was acknowledged by all.
The verdicts
announced saw the country divided in its opinions — particularly in July
when the Supreme Court announced its landmark judgement in the Panama
Papers case.
Sometimes regarded as controversial, the
court's observations and verdicts became the subject of much debate
across media and society. While some looked to the judiciary for a moral
compass, others criticised it.
Here, looks at 10 important cases that made headlines over the course of the outgoing year.
Panamagate: SC disqualifies PM Nawaz Sharif from holding public office
The year 2017 will be remembered for a number of legal
cases that held the country's attention captive, but none as much as the
Panama Papers case that started in November 2016.
The
first verdict, split 3-2 among the five-judge bench, was announced on
April 30 and led to the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT).
Later
on July 28, the bench announced its second and final unanimous verdict
in the Panama Papers case: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif could no longer
hold public office.
The bench — headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa — sent the premier packing under Article 62(1)(f) of the Constitution.
The court observed that Nawaz had failed to declare an iqama [UAE visa] and a salary of 10,000 dirhams from his son's company in the United Arab Emirates and therefore, was no longer sadiq [truthful] and ameen [trustworthy].
The
verdict, a first of its kind, did not go down well with the ruling
PML-N and its supporters. Questions were raised on the merits of the
grounds for Nawaz's disqualification.
Some, however, felt that a welcome precedent for accountability of the country's elite had been set.
The verdict was hailed as a victory by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.
The opposition party's chief, Imran Khan, had put up a relentless
fight, clamouring for Sharif to step down, after the Panama Papers were
leaked in April 2016.
A 'counterblast' to Panama: Tareen disqualified, Khan not out
In what was referred to as a 'counterblast' to the
petitions filed by Khan against Nawaz in the Panama Papers case, Hanif
Abbasi ─ a PML-N leader ─ in November 2016 filed petitions before the
apex court seeking the disqualification of Khan and PTI's secretary
general, Jahangir Tareen.
On May 3, a three-member apex bench ─ headed by the chief justice ─ began hearing the petitions
which accused the two PTI leaders of not declaring their assets to the
ECP and sought to unseat them based on alleged violations of the lncome
Tax Ordinance 1979 and Peoples Act 1974. The petition also alleged that
the PTI was a foreign-funded party.
After more than 50
court hearings, the bench reserved its verdict in the case on November
14 and announced it before a packed courtroom a month later.
The
court found Tareen to be dishonest under Article 62(1)(f) of the
Constitution ─ the same clause under which Sharif was disqualified
months earlier ─ and Section 99 of Representation of People Act (ROPA)
on one count among the multiple charges brought against him. The
announcement was seen by some quarters as a blow to the party's claims
of being morally superior to other political entities.
The
apex court, however, dismissed the petition filed against Khan. It was a
victory for the PTI chief as he walked free only a few months after his
political nemesis was disqualified.
In the days that followed, Nawaz and the PML-N stepped up their criticisms of the apex court, deeming the clean chit for Khan as a "double standard".
A whimper in the courtroom: ATC issues verdict in Benazir Bhutto murder case
Nearly a decade after former prime minister Benazir
Bhutto was killed at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi, an anti-terrorism court
(ATC) announced its judgment in the case on August 31.
"A cataclysmic event in the country’s history appears to have ended with a whimper in court," Dawn's editorial, published the day after the verdict was announced, had noted.
The
court declared former president Pervez Musharraf, who had been named in
the case in 2011, an absconder. The retired general, who now lives in
Dubai, had repeatedly failed to appear before the court throughout the
trial.
The
court also acquitted five Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan suspects of all
murder charges while sentencing two police officials — Saud Aziz and
Khurram Shahzad — to 17 years in prison. The two were accused of
negligence in security arrangements which subsequently led to Bhutto's
assassination.
The verdict in a case that was
controversially investigated and prosecuted was rejected by the PPP and
was regarded as unsatisfactory by several quarters.
On
September 18, weeks after the verdict was announced, PPP challenged it
in the Lahore High Court. The party's role — or lack thereof — in
pursuing the case over the last 10 years did not go unnoticed.
"The
PPP government owed it to the nation, its own party and its
assassinated leader to identify and prosecute those responsible for her
death," Dawn wrote in an editorial. "The laments of PPP leaders
today may be real, but so was their conscious decision to turn their
back on their slain leader for the sake of power and public office."
Shahzeb Khan case: Murderers get bail after family's pardon
On December 23, a day before Shahzeb Khan's fifth death
anniversary, Shahrukh Jatoi and three others accused for the murder of
the 20-year-old were granted bail by a district and sessions court.
Jatoi,
Sajjad Ali Talpur and Siraj Ali Talpur were released after Shahzeb's
father asked the court to completely drop the case against them, arguing
that his family had formally pardoned them already. Ghulam Murtaza
Lashari was also granted bail.
Two
days after he had shot Shahzeb four times over a petty dispute,
subsequently killing him, Jatoi had fled to Dubai. However, he was
brought back to Karachi by police in January 2013 after the then chief
justice Iftikhar Chaudhry took suo moto notice of the murder. Later that
year, an anti-terrorism court had sentenced Jatoi to death.
In
November this year, the Sindh High Court ordered a retrial in the case
and revoked the punishments that had been awarded to the accused. The
case was transferred to a district and sessions court where, a week
later, the accused were granted bail.
It was a
disheartening turn of events for many who closely followed the case and
took to the streets to ask for justice for Shahzeb. The cold brutality
with which Shahzeb was murdered on the night of his sister's valima sent
shivers across Pakistan five years ago and has gripped the nation
since.
The charges have yet to be dropped against the accused.
Fallout from Panamagate: NAB files references against the ruling Sharif family
On September 8, in keeping with the apex court's orders
in the Panama Papers case, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)
filed three references against Nawaz Sharif, his three children, and his
son-in-law.
The references were prepared on the basis
of the findings of the SC-mandated JIT, which had probed the Sharif
family's business dealings abroad during the case.
At
first, the Sharif family members had refused to appear before the
investigators. However, as the court exercised its power to issue arrest
warrants for no-shows, the former premier started arriving at the court
hearings — though sporadically.
Maryam and her husband
Capt Safdar eventually appeared before the courts but Hassan and
Hussain Nawaz were declared proclaimed offenders for their repeated
absence.
"My brothers live abroad [...] the laws of here [Pakistan] don't apply to them," Maryam had justified after a court hearing.
Slowly but surely, the court indicted
the ousted prime minister in the cases against him, including one
pertaining to the Avenfield flats in London in which Maryam and Safdar
were also named. All three pleaded 'not guilty' to the charges.
On October 31, Nawaz was indicted in the Flagship Investment reference.
On
November 15, the trial against the former premier, Maryam and Safdar
formally began as NAB presented two witnesses before court.
On
more than one occasion, Maryam as well as Nawaz flat out rejected the
notion that the graft references against their family had anything to do
with accountability.
"It has turned into revenge now," declared Maryam while speaking to the media after one of the hearings.
The noose tightens: Court questions Dar on owning 'assets beyond income'
In addition to the three references against the Sharif
family members, NAB filed one against the then finance minister Ishaq
Dar for owning assets beyond his known sources of income.
On
Sept 27, as the accountability court indicted Dar, the accused pleaded
not guilty to the charges. A few days later, Dar failed to appear before
the court, and his counsel informed the bench that he had gone to London for medical treatment.
The lawyer sought exemption from physical appearance before the court
for his client. However, the request was denied and bailable warrants
were issued.
On November 14, non-bailable arrest
warrants were issued for Dar and, as he repeatedly failed to appear
before the court, the accused was declared an absconder on December 11.
The finance ministry was in complete disorder
as Dar remained abroad. Finally, on November 22, the government
withdrew the portfolio of finance minister from Dar following his
application for 'leave'.
Dar is currently in London.
The reluctant apology: ECP repeatedly calls Imran Khan over contempt notice
Several petitions were filed against Khan in the
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in 2017 — one such petition, that
garnered the public's interest, was filed on January 23 by former PTI
member Akbar S. Babar, saying Khan had made contemptuous remarks about
the election body.
Khan had accused the ECP of being
biased against the PTI in a separate case, which was also filed by Babar
in 2014. A formal contempt notice had been issued to Khan over his
“defaming and scandalising” the ECP.
A week before the
petition was filed, Khan's counsel had tendered an unconditional apology
to the ECP. At the time, the PTI chief had said that his counsel had
tendered apology in his personal capacity. However, months later, on
September 25, Khan owned the apology.
The
PTI chief had yet to appear before the ECP in keeping with a number of
summons the commission had issued for him when, on October 12, the
commission issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Khan on contempt charges.
On October 26, Khan, flanked by other leaders of the PTI, appeared before the ECP and was asked to submit a written apology.
The PTI chief and his lawyer penned an apology and submitted it to the commission.
However, the commission, once again, expressed its disapproval over the apology and Khan was made to write a second apology.
Later that day, the charges against him were dropped.
Evidence for all to see: Court asks Punjab govt to make Model Town report public
On December 5, the Punjab government found itself in a tight spot as it was ordered by the Lahore High Court to make public Justice Baqar Najafi's report
on the violent Model Town incident of 2014, in which 14 supporters of
Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) leader Tahirul Qadri were killed.
The
damning report was released later that day and Justice Najafi's
conclusions made clear why the Punjab government had fought tooth and
nail to prevent its release.
The
judge found that it was the determination of the then Punjab minister
for parliamentary affairs Rana Sanaullah to prevent Qadri from holding a
long march from Rawalpindi to Islamabad that influenced the police's
heavy-handed strategy in dealing with the protesters.
The
report said that the "facts and circumstances of the bloodbath show
that the police officers actively participated in the massacre." It
stated that provincial authorities had proceeded with "apathy and
recklessness" against Qadri's supporters.
It was a victory for Qadri and his efforts to seek justice for his supporters.
In the days following the report's release, he called for Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Rana Sanuallah resignations.
He also demanded the removal of suspected bureaucrats and police
officials from active duty in addition to the formation of a joint
investigation team to probe the incident.
PPP, PTI and the Awami National Party have all voiced support for Qadri.
Sharif and Sanaullah have been warned by Qadri to resign by Dec 31 or face a protest movement for their ouster.
Indian spy in Pakistan: Military tribunal sentences Jadhav to death
On April 10, the sensational story of the Indian spy
that began in March 2016 and witnessed several twists, climaxed when a
Field General Court Martial in Pakistan sentenced Kulbashan Jadhav to
death over charges of espionage and terrorism.
The death
sentence was announced after a trial was conducted by the military
tribunal. The lack of transparency in Jadhav's trial in Pakistan,
however, raised questions across the border.
In
Pakistan, Jadhav's confession of carrying out terrorist acts in the
country and the sentence against him were seen as proof of Indian
interference in domestic affairs. In India, it was seen as an act of
premeditated murder and roughly a month after the sentence was
announced, India moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against
Pakistan, accusing the latter of violating the Vienna Convention on
Consular Relations.
India maintained that Pakistan,
despite repeated requests, had denied consular access to Jadhav and
sought to restrain Pakistan from carrying out the death sentence against
him.
At
the ICJ, Pakistan challenged the jurisdiction of the court to hear the
case. The argument was rejected and the execution was stayed.
The case is currently being heard at the ICJ.
The state of Katas Raj: 'Why are there no idols in the Hindu temple?' asks SC
On Dec 2, pilgrims from various states in India arrived in Pakistan to visit Katas Raj
─ an ancient complex of temples surrounded by a pond, which Hindus
believe was formed by the falling tears of their deity Shiva. However,
they were disappointed upon their arrival to see that the pond had
almost dried up and there was not enough water to perform Ashnan, a bath
which is a crucial part of the pilgrimage.
Earlier, in November, media reports of the pond's condition had prompted Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar to take suo motu notice of the matter.
Reports had suggested that the pond was drying out due to water
consumption by nearby cement factories. In one hearing of the case, the
Punjab government confirmed the reports and the chief justice regretted
its inability to safeguard one of the Hindu community's most well-known
places of worship.
The SC, during the hearings, championed the rights of the religious minority, expressing dismay over the absence of idols in the Sri Ram and Hanuman temples in the Katas Raj complex.
"This
temple is not just a place of cultural significance for the Hindu
community, but also a part of our national heritage," the chief justice
had observed.
On Dec 13, the SC ordered Bestway Cement, one of the four major cement production units located in the area, to fill up the pond within a week.