KARACHI, June 15: Important leaders of the legal fraternity have accused the ‘establishment’ of being behind the Riaz-Arsalan scandal which they say is aimed at ‘tarnishing’ the image of the Supreme Court at a time when it is dealing with some crucial cases, like the issue of missing persons, Asghar Khan petition relating to ISI funding of political parties and eligibility of the prime minister.

In a joint statement issued here on Friday, Supreme Court Bar Association’s former chief Muneer A. Malik and Pakistan Bar Council’s former vice-chairman Rasheed A. Razvi demanded a transparent inquiry into the matter and punishment for those found guilty.

“For the first time in the country’s history we have a Supreme Court that dares directly confront central figures of the establishment,” said the two leaders who actively took part in the 2007 pro-judiciary movement.

“Clearly, the establishment feels threatened by a Supreme Court committed to the rule of law. Many people were used as tools in this attack — not least certain persons belonging to the media.”

They said it was not a coincidence that such allegations had surfaced at a time when the judiciary was dealing with cases of public importance.

They said they did not find it different from the situation which emerged in 2007 and led to a reference against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry by former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.

“It is also not a coincidence that allegations of a similar nature were levelled publicly against the chief justice in March 2007 when similar cases were being heard by the Supreme Court,” they added.

They said the situation made it incumbent for all democratic forces who believed in the rule of law to rally to the defiance of the Supreme Court.

At the same time, they said, the rule of law also required that all those who were party to the asking, giving or taking bribe to influence the course of justice -- whether it Malik Riaz or Dr Arsalan Iftikhar or any other person -- should be severely punished.

“In this regard, we applaud the fair, independent and impartial order passed by the Supreme Court in this matter on June 14 and hope that the government promptly acts upon the order by investigating and registering criminal cases against all persons involved,” the statement said.