Supreme Court seeks record of ISPR after May 02 operation

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought records of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press releases and Armed forces’ statements  issued after the Abbottabad operation against Osama Bin Laden on May 02.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary resumed hearing of a petition pertaining to media’s role.

The petition was filed by Advocate Sardar Ghazi in June against media reporting after the US raid in Abbottabad that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May last year.

The applicant sought ban on media for criticizing the armed forces, intelligence agencies and other defence and security institutions.

The court summoned record of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) ‘press releases’ issued since May 2 and also sought President Asif Ali Zardari’s article posted in the Wall Street Journal.

During the hearing, Sardar Ghazi’s lawyer Raja Irshad told the court that Army respects the court and has implemented all its orders.

In reply to this, the chief justice remarked that they had witnessed it yesterday and their position was very clear and no one should have any kind of doubts. He further said that the judiciary and army have been pitted against each other by the media.

He said the Pakistan armed forces were maligned in a planned manner, but the fact was that they always respected the Supreme Court and implemented all its orders.

Chief Justice Chaudhary on Monday gave an abrupt response to the speech delivered by Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.

He said that as a guardian and protector of the Constitution of Pakistan, a heavy responsibility lies upon the judges of the Supreme Court to uphold the canons of constitutional predominance and its supremacy over all other institutions and authorities.

He also noted, “Gone are the days when stability and security of the country was defined in terms of number of missiles and tanks as a manifestation of hard power available at the disposal of the State.”

In his view, the concept of national security has been redefined as a polity wherein a State is bound to provide its citizens with overwhelming, social security and welfare nets and to protect their natural and civil rights at all costs.

He also stressed that a well-trained and high spirited bureaucracy was needed to run the state institutions besides tackling the social and economic challenges.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Nov 6 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.