ISLAMABAD: The vice chairman of Sindh Bar Council (SBC), Syed Haider Imam Rizvi, on Thursday lauded a recent judgement of the Supreme Court in the Paragon Housing Society corruption case, describing it as a landmark verdict and guiding principle for the judiciary.

In a statement, Mr Rizvi said that the verdict, authored by Justice Maqbool Baqar, had upheld the supremacy of the constitution, rule of law and independence of judiciary in the country.

“Justice Baqar’s judgment has elaborated in great details various provisions of the 1973 Constitution and presented precedents dealing with the fundamental rights granted to citizens, principles of equality, fairness, tolerance and respect for democratic norms which are unfortunately flouted and trampled upon, especially by the executive, with impunity in our country,” the SBC leader said.

He said the verdict had traced the history of laws pertaining to the accountability of politicians/public office holders since the creation of the country.

He said the verdict had highlighted that rather than doing any good to the country or the body politic and cleansing fountainheads of governance, NAB laws and the manner in which they were enforced, had caused further degeneration and created chaos, since these laws had been framed and applied with an oblique motive of arm twisting and pressurising political opponents into submission, subjugation and compliance.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2020