LHC Justice: Bail for Sohail Zia Butt, conviction for Rehman Malik!

The honourable judges of the Lahore High Court continue to leave no stone unturned in disgracing the institution of judiciary in Pakistan. On 11th October 2010 the court granted bail to the PML-N leader Sohail Zia Butt and suspended his three year sentence given in absentia.

The verdict is in line with every verdict given in Pakistan and worldwide. Verdicts pronounced in absentia are procedurally rescinded and sentences suspended pending appeals and retrials, the verdict follows all precedents except one.

Not six months ago, due to the ‘increasingly deteriorating situation in the country’ the LHC took a novel step by upholding the conviction of interior minister Rehman Malik. His bail was terminated and an arrest warrant issued. This was done by the independent judiciary in the name of setting an example, certainly it wanted to set examples it had no intention of following.

The fact that the conviction of Rehman Malik was done in absentia was ignored. The bench observed in its order while dismissing the minister’s appeals that, “after conviction, if a person is not taken into custody or not admitted to bail, such a person is deemed to be fugitive of law and would not be entitled to any relief.” It was in this scenario that President Zardari was forced to pardon Mr Rehman Malik, him being denied a fair trial in broad daylight.

The news published in Dawn News:

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday released PML-N leader Sohail Zia Butt on bail. The court also suspended the three-year-long prison sentence given to him by an accountability court.

The Accountability Court in Lahore had sentenced former MPA of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz to prison.

He had been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau on September 1 over his alleged involvement in a National Industrial Cooperative Corporation scam.

The PML-N had termed the arrest of Butt, who is Nawaz Sharif’s brother-in-law, as “politically motivated and illegal”.

Die Facebook Die!!

The media, mullahs and many of the educated folk have hailed the Lahore High Court's decision to ban Facebook, Youtube and many other websites in Pakistan. The ban imposed in response to the drawing of blasphemous caricature is however, as unfortunate as the incident it self.

Bans are counter productive and in this instance they have set an extremely dangerous precedent. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) could have blocked selective links on both these sites but the Court ordered a blanket ban. Cutting the entire youth's social link from each other and rest of the world. Some quarters are now calling for a permanent ban while it is being reported that a further set of 450 sites including Orkut are going to be blocked. See the problem now?



This seemingly innocent act of Lahore High Court allows a ban on any material deemed against Islam. If the act goes unchallenged or uncorrected the precedent paves the way for future blocking of websites which are deemed un-Islamic if not anti-Islamic. Who shall decide what is un-Islamic? Given the state of our Courts, modeling, dance, music, secularism and a whole lot of other topics would make it to the list. Indeed bans and prohibitions are the first step towards a dystopia.

The law, if need be could be extended to include anything anti-Pakistan being banned, and we might soon discover blogs with dissenting opinions being blocked as was done with the Press not to long ago in this country. Comments about the establishment, courts, armed forces and ruling elite being censored and writers being rebuked even punished.

The imposition of blanket ban on websites is a cause for concern. The ban on Facebook needs to be reviewed and revoked. In this Islamic Republic of Pakistan, You Tube is banned, however, lay back and relax mates, why don't you tune into X Tube for a change!