How judiciary in Pakistan dispenses justice
The judiciary in Pakistan is known for giving flawed and discriminatory judgments, more than often denying justice to those seeking it.
In particular, the courts in Pakistan, even the high courts, have earned infamy for giving out unfair verdicts on blasphemy laws, hitting the hapless members of the minority community already reeling under highhandedness in a country where institutions are largely biased.
Having said this, it's equally significant to state that in a recent judgment, one Justice Arif Khosa made a most apt observation in a case where one Mushtaq, a Christian scavenger (equivalent of a sweeper in our country) facing charges of blasphemy was given a fair hearing.
The case dates back to October 2006. Mushtaq was charged for burning the Quran. Presiding over a three-member bench, the judge held that the prosecution failed to prove blasphemy beyond reasonable doubt and the police investigation was faulty and flawed.
The judges further observed that the matchbox produced in the lower courts was stated to be different from the one on police records. Also, the burnt piece of holy scriptures from the Quran, used as evidence against the accused, were not recovered by the investigation officer (IO) from the crime scene but were rather provided by the complainant. This created suspicion over authenticity, thus making the evidence inadmissible in the court of law.
Such observations, valid on the face of the case, serve to underline the common practice of instigating and bribing the police in Pakistan to file frivolous and baseless charges for which complaints themselves provide concocted evidence.
To worsen matters, the prosecution bases its arguments solely on the police investigation report and usually ignores any legal loopholes or discrepancies. The lower judiciary, in the meantime, due to its heavy backlogs of cases, does not spend time sifting through the evidence. The result, therefore, is travesty of justice.
Justice Khosa further expressed shock at the lack of credible witnesses to the crime; Mushtaq was convicted for blasphemy in the lower court. It's also worth underlining that given the legal and social constraints, no sane man will ever indulge in such a crime. According to the bench, mob justice and lynchings are closely associated with the religious fervour that clouds any logic or reasoning.
One cannot ignore the fact that religious fundamentalists in Pakistan consider it their religious right to kill anyone accused of blasphemy and ordinarily, no one is allowed to defend the poor. And it's more a mockery of the judicial system.
Against this backdrop, it merits to be put on record that more than a dozen cases of mob lynchings have taken place in Pakistan since the start of 2017. Increasing number of blasphemy allegations and misuse of the law are symptoms of failed governance, and are exacerbated with Pakistan's law and order situation.
Pakistan's criminal justice system ranks very low in the global context. Legal experts and human rights watchers feel there is an urgent need for drastic improvement and reengineering. It's, therefore, incumbent upon judicial officers to perform their duties with full honesty, as in the case of Mushtaq above.
Justice Khosa's verdict and findings were an exception. Delving deep into the evidence was not ordinary. Otherwise, trials and judgments are routinely one-sided and driven by fanaticism.
Unless the Pakistani judiciary takes recourse to fair play and real justice, it cannot match international standards, let alone contest the Kulbhushan Jadhav case in the International Court of Justice. The whole world knows how Pakistani lawyers were exposed for their triviality when arguing in The Hague not very long ago.