A coloumn by Ardeshir Cowasjee

EDITORIALS & FEATURES
980510
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Storming of the Supreme Court - 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee

ON April 4, the Bench presided over by Justice Nasir
Aslam Zahid,
sitting with Justices Munawar Ahmad Mirza and Abdur
Rahman Khan,
now inquiring into the pre-planned Storming of the
Supreme Court
by parliamentarians, members and supporters of the
PML on November
28,1997 heard the statements of three witnesses.
Media-wizard who knows all the tricks of the political
 trade,
Hussain Haqqani, filed his affidavit, as did Altaf
Hussain Bhatti
of Asas / Lashkar, and Aslam Butt of the Frontier
Post.

Haqqani suggested that the November 28 video
recordings of the
Supreme Court CCTV cameras, and those made by
the various TV crews,
be shown on PTV, and members of the general
public invited to
identify any recognizable individuals. This
is in line with the
action taken by the Tribunal that inquired
into
Murtaza Bhutto's
murder, also presided over by Justice Nasir
Aslam Zahid, which had
"published a notice in the newspapers that
anyone in possession of
any information regarding the incident in
question may send his
name and address and an affidavit to the
Registrar of the
Tribunal...".

Brave Bhatti, shrugging off all 'inconveniences',
 filed his
affidavit, written in Urdu, relevant translated
 portions of which
read :

"I was an eye-witness to whatever happened outside
 and inside
Courtroom No.1 on November 28, 1997 and give this
statement to
assist the apex court of the country in my
capacity as a
responsible citizen.

"Whilst the Bench headed by Chief Justice Sajjad
Ali Shah
comprising Justices Bashir Jehangiri, Mohammed Arif,
Maimoon Kazi
and Munir A Shaikh, was hearing the contempt of court
 case against
the Prime Minister and other parliamentarians on
November 27, 1997,
Zafar Ali Shah, MNA, Advocate of the Supreme Court
rose and said
that the Chief Justice could not conduct the Court,
as after the
judgment of the Quetta Bench he was no longer CJ.
Minister Chaudhry
Nisar Ali Khan, and MNAs/MPAs Kabir Khan, Inamullah
 Niazi, Sardar
Naseem and Advisor to PM Mushtaq Tahirkheli also
stood up in Court
in support of Zafar Ali Shah. The Muslim League
crowd present also
heckled the CJ, and when he declared that the
Quetta Bench decision
was null and void in law they shouted 'Chor ,
chor .'

"PML workers also demonstrated against the
Chief Justice on
Constitution Avenue. That evening, government
 sources briefed
journalists that Justice Ajmal Mian will be
sworn in as CJ the next
morning and CJ Sajjad Ali Shah will proceed
on leave.

"On the morning of November 28, I read a prominent
 headline in the
'Daily Pakistan' announcing that the Muslim League
was to
demonstrate its strength outside the Supreme Court
 that day. This
news story said that the PM and the CM Punjab had
directed PML MPAs
to bring Muslim League workers to Islamabad, via
the motorway, for
a show of strength. So, I left my home at 0700 hours
 and arrived by
wagon outside the Supreme Court at 0815. At that
time, traffic was
flowing on Constitution Avenue and a few people
had arrived outside
the SC. Police reserves had just started taking
their positions.
The SSG Police group was led by Inspector Mehr
Yar Mohammed. SHO
Secretariat Jamil Hashmi and SHO Bahra Kahu,
Mussarat Khan were
also there with their men.

"At around 0830, people arrived in buses and
wagons from the
direction of Punjab House. Muslim League office
bearers from
Rawalpindi and Islamabad came with their workers.
MSF, Nawaz Sharif
Force and PML Women's Wing were particularly active.
 Efforts were
made to get inside the SC. The gate was shut because
 entry was
restricted to holders of entry passes, but certain
PML
parliamentarians were allowed entry without passes.
Demonstrators
held banners and placards reading 'We respect the
Court but Sajjad
Ali Shah is dishonest,' 'Jewish agent Sajjad Ali Shah,'
 'Sajjad Ali
Shah na manzoor,' 'Justice demands that the Chief
Justice be
dismissed.'

Retired Major Rashid Warraich, head of Hizbollah,
was also present
and his group held up their own placards. Women
standing next to
the main gate were singing 'Qadam barhao Nawaz
Sharif, hum tumarhey
saath hein.'

"At 0900 serious slogan-mongering commenced.
The workers who had
come from Lahore were led by Akhtar Rasool,
MPA, and others, while
Rawalpindi workers were accompanied by MPAs
Sardar Naseem, Advocate
Akhtar Mahmood, and Chaudhry Tanveer Khan.
I know several of the
workers who were there, including Riaz Khan,
Shakil Awan, Zahid
Qureshi, Babar Awan, Maqbool Ahmed, Mumtaz Ahmed,
Farooq Khattak of
Zia Foundation, Ali Abbas and Liaquat Ali Khan.
From the Women's
Wing in the forefront were Javedi Fatima, Nilofar
 Bakhtiar, Seema
Gilani, Tahira Shaukat, Naseem Ali and Mukhtar Begum.
Prominent in
the hullabaloo were Shahbaz Goshi, Suleman Khan,
 Raja Hafiz,
Chaudhry Allah Ditta and Malik Shuja.

"At 0930 I entered Court No. 1 after showing my pass,
and sat on
the press seats, with Khushnood Ali Khan, Rao Khalid,
 Wadood Qureshi,
Mushtaq Minhas, Nasir, Rashid Habib, and Zafar Shaikh.
Present in Court were MNAs Ejazul Haq, Khwaja Asif,
Asfandyar Wali,
MPAs Ashfaq Sarwar, Raja Basharat, Chaudhry Tanveer Khan,
 Akhtar
Mahmood, Sardar Naseem, Senators Raja Aurangzeb and
Saifur Rahman,
and other PML MNAs, MPAs and office bearers.

"In the course of the proceedings, Khwaja Asif,
through his
counsel, sought permission from the Court to leave.
As the Chief
Justice was about to show the video cassette [of the
Assembly
session at which the alleged contempt took place]
MPAs Sardar
Naseem, Ashfaq Sarwar, Akhtar Mahmood and Ali Afzal
 Jadoon also
left the Courtroom. Soon thereafter, a noise was heard
 from outside
and Fakhr Zaman, the reporter for Zaman , a Turkish
publication,
entered the courtroom, panting, and shouted 'My Lord,
the court has
been attacked. They will kill you. The Judges should
 protect
themselves.' The CJ remarked to S M Zafar, 'Thank you,
 Mr Zafar, we
are now adjourning the proceedings, but your clients
will have to
bear the responsibility.'

"Soon after the Judges had left the courtroom a large
 crowd led by
Sardar Naseem [who had gone out shortly before]
re-entered and
assaulted Fakhr Zaman. Some journalists intervened.
Outside the
courtroom, I saw demonstrators swaggering around in
different areas
of the building, carrying flags and placards. The ML
 workers were
shouting slogans : 'Sajjad kutta hai hai', 'Leghari
kutta hai hai',
'Lotay judges na manzoor'. In the main hall of the
Court Khwaja
Asif, Zafar Ali Shah, and some other ML leaders wer
e telling the
workers to go back, but the main door of the building
 was shut.
When I looked out from the balcony of the first floor,
hundreds of
demonstrators were shouting slogans inside the Supreme
 Court
grounds while police inside and outside the building
stood as
silent spectators.

"I remained in the Court until 1200 hours gathering
material for my
press report. I present herewith a copy of Asas of
29/11/97."

The attention of the Judges was drawn to the back page
 of the Asas
that carried the photograph of a huge banner, made to
measure, tied
and displayed over half the full length of the front
compound
railing of the Court, reading : "Istehkam-i- Pakistan
 ka dushman
Sajjad Ali Shah  Pakistan Muslim League." (Enemy of
the solidarity
of Pakistan, Sajjad Ali Shah - signed : PML).

The next hearing is on May 18. Another affidavit is
 being submitted
to the Court to be placed on record, to which the
following have
been attached :

(a) A copy of letter dated November 28 1998 sent by
CJ P Sajjad Ali
Shah to President Leghari, in which he relates details
of the mob
attack that day.

(b) A copy of letter dated November 29, 1997, sent
by President
Leghari to PM Nawaz Sharif, forwarding a copy of the
CJP's letter,
in which he refers to : "...the disgraceful and
premeditated mob
assault on the Supreme Court of Pakistan on
28th November ...".

(c) A copy of the Prime Minister's November 29, 1997
 rejoinder to
the President's letter.

(c) A video cassette of the recording of President
Leghari's
address to the press conference held on December 2,
1998 at which
he announced his resignation, and in which he made
 reference to the
November 28 storming and desecration of the SC by
 the "goons and
parliamentarians of the ruling party."

At the last hearing, it was requested that certain
 concerned
persons be summoned by the Court to give their
statements. The
Court informed me that for this to be considered
I should make an
application. This is being done, listing the
following :

Former President of Pakistan Farooq Leghari; the
then IGP,
Islamabad; concerned officer of the ISI; the then
DIG Special
Branch, Islamabad; the then DG IB; Punjab CM
Shahbaz Sharif; SAPM
Anwar Zahid; Senator Iqbal Haider ; Zahid Husain
(Newsline and AP);
Fakhr Zaman (Turkish news agency Zaman);
Khushnood Ali Khan
(Khabrain); Rashid Hijazi (Daily Pakistan);
Faraz Hashmi (Dawn);
Aslam Khan (Internews); Zafar Shaikh (Nawa-i-Waqt);
 Muhammad Ismail
and Naveed Mairaj (Frontier Post).

The sooner the better that our honourable judges
realize that thepeople are but trying to help
revive and rehabilitate the honour of the Supreme Court.
DAWN WIRE SERVICE
Week Ending :  16 May 1998     Issue : 04/19

Week Ending : 16 May 1998 Issue : 04/19

EDITORIALS & FEATURES
980510
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Storming of the Supreme Court - 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ardeshir Cowasjee

ON April 4, the Bench presided over by Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid,
sitting with Justices Munawar Ahmad Mirza and Abdur Rahman Khan,
now inquiring into the pre-planned Storming of the Supreme Court by
parliamentarians, members and supporters of the PML on November 28,
1997 heard the statements of three witnesses.
  
Media-wizard who knows all the tricks of the political trade,
Hussain Haqqani, filed his affidavit, as did Altaf Hussain Bhatti
of Asas / Lashkar, and Aslam Butt of the Frontier Post.
  
Haqqani suggested that the November 28 video recordings of the
Supreme Court CCTV cameras, and those made by the various TV crews,
be shown on PTV, and members of the general public invited to
identify any recognizable individuals. This is in line with the
action taken by the Tribunal that inquired into Murtaza Bhutto's
murder, also presided over by Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid, which had
"published a notice in the newspapers that anyone in possession of
any information regarding the incident in question may send his
name and address and an affidavit to the Registrar of the
Tribunal...".
  
Brave Bhatti, shrugging off all 'inconveniences', filed his
affidavit, written in Urdu, relevant translated portions of which
read :
  
"I was an eye-witness to whatever happened outside and inside
Courtroom No.1 on November 28, 1997 and give this statement to
assist the apex court of the country in my capacity as a
responsible citizen.
  
"Whilst the Bench headed by Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah
comprising Justices Bashir Jehangiri, Mohammed Arif, Maimoon Kazi
and Munir A Shaikh, was hearing the contempt of court case against
the Prime Minister and other parliamentarians on November 27, 1997,
Zafar Ali Shah, MNA, Advocate of the Supreme Court rose and said
that the Chief Justice could not conduct the Court, as after the
judgment of the Quetta Bench he was no longer CJ. Minister Chaudhry
Nisar Ali Khan, and MNAs/MPAs Kabir Khan, Inamullah Niazi, Sardar
Naseem and Advisor to PM Mushtaq Tahirkheli also stood up in Court
in support of Zafar Ali Shah. The Muslim League crowd present also
heckled the CJ, and when he declared that the Quetta Bench decision
was null and void in law they shouted 'Chor , chor .'
  
"PML workers also demonstrated against the Chief Justice on
Constitution Avenue. That evening, government sources briefed
journalists that Justice Ajmal Mian will be sworn in as CJ the next
morning and CJ Sajjad Ali Shah will proceed on leave.
  
"On the morning of November 28, I read a prominent headline in the
'Daily Pakistan' announcing that the Muslim League was to
demonstrate its strength outside the Supreme Court that day. This
news story said that the PM and the CM Punjab had directed PML MPAs
to bring Muslim League workers to Islamabad, via the motorway, for
a show of strength. So, I left my home at 0700 hours and arrived by
wagon outside the Supreme Court at 0815. At that time, traffic was
flowing on Constitution Avenue and a few people had arrived outside
the SC. Police reserves had just started taking their positions.
The SSG Police group was led by Inspector Mehr Yar Mohammed. SHO
Secretariat Jamil Hashmi and SHO Bahra Kahu, Mussarat Khan were
also there with their men.
  
"At around 0830, people arrived in buses and wagons from the
direction of Punjab House. Muslim League office bearers from
Rawalpindi and Islamabad came with their workers. MSF, Nawaz Sharif
Force and PML Women's Wing were particularly active. Efforts were
made to get inside the SC. The gate was shut because entry was
restricted to holders of entry passes, but certain PML
parliamentarians were allowed entry without passes. Demonstrators
held banners and placards reading 'We respect the Court but Sajjad
Ali Shah is dishonest,' 'Jewish agent Sajjad Ali Shah,' 'Sajjad Ali
Shah na manzoor,' 'Justice demands that the Chief Justice be
dismissed.'
  
Retired Major Rashid Warraich, head of Hizbollah, was also present
and his group held up their own placards. Women standing next to
the main gate were singing 'Qadam barhao Nawaz Sharif, hum tumarhey
saath hein.'
  
"At 0900 serious slogan-mongering commenced. The workers who had
come from Lahore were led by Akhtar Rasool, MPA, and others, while
Rawalpindi workers were accompanied by MPAs Sardar Naseem, Advocate
Akhtar Mahmood, and Chaudhry Tanveer Khan. I know several of the
workers who were there, including Riaz Khan, Shakil Awan, Zahid
Qureshi, Babar Awan, Maqbool Ahmed, Mumtaz Ahmed, Farooq Khattak of
Zia Foundation, Ali Abbas and Liaquat Ali Khan. From the Women's
Wing in the forefront were Javedi Fatima, Nilofar Bakhtiar, Seema
Gilani, Tahira Shaukat, Naseem Ali and Mukhtar Begum. Prominent in
the hullabaloo were Shahbaz Goshi, Suleman Khan, Raja Hafiz,
Chaudhry Allah Ditta and Malik Shuja.
  
"At 0930 I entered Court No. 1 after showing my pass, and sat on
the press seats, with Khushnood Ali Khan, Rao Khalid, Wadood Qureshi,
Mushtaq Minhas, Nasir, Rashid Habib, and Zafar Shaikh.
Present in Court were MNAs Ejazul Haq, Khwaja Asif, Asfandyar Wali,
MPAs Ashfaq Sarwar, Raja Basharat, Chaudhry Tanveer Khan, Akhtar
Mahmood, Sardar Naseem, Senators Raja Aurangzeb and Saifur Rahman,
and other PML MNAs, MPAs and office bearers.
  
"In the course of the proceedings, Khwaja Asif, through his
counsel, sought permission from the Court to leave. As the Chief
Justice was about to show the video cassette [of the Assembly
session at which the alleged contempt took place] MPAs Sardar
Naseem, Ashfaq Sarwar, Akhtar Mahmood and Ali Afzal Jadoon also
left the Courtroom. Soon thereafter, a noise was heard from outside
and Fakhr Zaman, the reporter for Zaman , a Turkish publication,
entered the courtroom, panting, and shouted 'My Lord, the court has
been attacked. They will kill you. The Judges should protect
themselves.' The CJ remarked to S M Zafar, 'Thank you, Mr Zafar, we
are now adjourning the proceedings, but your clients will have to
bear the responsibility.'
  
"Soon after the Judges had left the courtroom a large crowd led by
Sardar Naseem [who had gone out shortly before] re-entered and
assaulted Fakhr Zaman. Some journalists intervened. Outside the
courtroom, I saw demonstrators swaggering around in different areas
of the building, carrying flags and placards. The ML workers were
shouting slogans : 'Sajjad kutta hai hai', 'Leghari kutta hai hai',
'Lotay judges na manzoor'. In the main hall of the Court Khwaja
Asif, Zafar Ali Shah, and some other ML leaders were telling the
workers to go back, but the main door of the building was shut.
When I looked out from the balcony of the first floor, hundreds of
demonstrators were shouting slogans inside the Supreme Court
grounds while police inside and outside the building stood as
silent spectators.
  
"I remained in the Court until 1200 hours gathering material for my
press report. I present herewith a copy of Asas of 29/11/97."
  
The attention of the Judges was drawn to the back page of the Asas
that carried the photograph of a huge banner, made to measure, tied
and displayed over half the full length of the front compound
railing of the Court, reading : "Istehkam-i- Pakistan ka dushman
Sajjad Ali Shah  Pakistan Muslim League." (Enemy of the solidarity
of Pakistan, Sajjad Ali Shah - signed : PML).
  
The next hearing is on May 18. Another affidavit is being submitted
to the Court to be placed on record, to which the following have
been attached :
  
(a) A copy of letter dated November 28 1998 sent by CJ P Sajjad Ali
Shah to President Leghari, in which he relates details of the mob
attack that day.
  
(b) A copy of letter dated November 29, 1997, sent by President
Leghari to PM Nawaz Sharif, forwarding a copy of the CJP's letter,
in which he refers to : "...the disgraceful and premeditated mob
assault on the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 28th November ...".
  
(c) A copy of the Prime Minister's November 29, 1997 rejoinder to
the President's letter.
  
(c) A video cassette of the recording of President Leghari's
address to the press conference held on December 2, 1998 at which
he announced his resignation, and in which he made reference to the
November 28 storming and desecration of the SC by the "goons and
parliamentarians of the ruling party."
  
At the last hearing, it was requested that certain concerned
persons be summoned by the Court to give their statements. The
Court informed me that for this to be considered I should make an
application. This is being done, listing the following :
  
Former President of Pakistan Farooq Leghari; the then IGP,
Islamabad; concerned officer of the ISI; the then DIG Special
Branch, Islamabad; the then DG IB; Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif; SAPM
Anwar Zahid; Senator Iqbal Haider ; Zahid Husain (Newsline and AP);
Fakhr Zaman (Turkish news agency Zaman); Khushnood Ali Khan
(Khabrain); Rashid Hijazi (Daily Pakistan); Faraz Hashmi (Dawn);
Aslam Khan (Internews); Zafar Shaikh (Nawa-i-Waqt); Muhammad Ismail
and Naveed Mairaj (Frontier Post).
  
The sooner the better that our honourable judges realize that the
people are but trying to help revive and rehabilitate the honour of
the Supreme Court.