I don't know whether or not it is a matter of pride for the Indian Supreme Court that its counterpart in Pakistan cited the Indian court's verdicts when ordering the Gilani dismissal. That is why a former judge of the Indian Supreme Court has tried to maintain his distance from the murky business of the interaction of state organs in Pakistan. Former Indian justice Markandey Katju has questioned the utter lack of restraint on the part of Pakistan's Supreme Court in general and its chief justice in particular. Mr. Katju said that the court and its chief justice have been playing to the galleries for far too long, and that this has clearly gone too far and has flouted all the canons of constitutional jurisprudence. He said that even though Sec. 248 (2) of the Pakistani constitution very clearly states that no criminal proceedings whatsoever shall be instituted or continued against the president or governor in any court during his (or her) terms of office, the court seems to be interested in twisting or amending this provision. Pakistan's constitution draws its basic structure from Anglo-Saxon laws and the same is true for the Indian constitution, which establishes a delicate balance of power among the three organs of the state - the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. It is expected from all three not to encroach on the other's domain, otherwise the result will be the same that we witnessed on June 19, which was followed on June 21 by the issuance of an arrest warrant for the nominee for prime minister Makhdoom Shahabuddin. In my opinion the Pakistan Supreme Court should take note of what Justice Katju said while concluding his comments: “It seems to me that the Pakistan Supreme Court has lost its balance and gone berserk. If it does not now come to its senses I am afraid the day is not far off when the constitution will collapse, and the blame will squarely lie with the court, and particularly its chief justice." I hope the chief justice will not choose to issue a contempt of court notice to Justice Katju and order the new Pakistani prime minister to hold all dealings with India until Justice Katju is arrested and produced in front of the 17-judge court. Masood Khan, Jubail
