The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, has warned that the court could summon the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, to ask him how the country should be run. He was referring to the the IG of Frontier Constabulary, Maj-Gen Ubaidullah Khattak, holding a press conference on the worsening law and order situation in Balochistan on June 2. The CJ made this observation while heading a three-member bench of the court hearing the matter pertaining to the law and order situation and target killings in the province, and proceeded to order the transcript of the press talk produced on Monday. Again, the court observed that the FC was held responsible in the majority of cases of disappearance. It noted that the bodies of three missing persons the had ordered recovered, were thrown on the road.

The Chief Justice also noted that it was not the business of an official in uniform to hold press conferences, and asked if the IG FC wanted a confrontation with the court. This prompted him to ask further if this was the conduct of the IG FC, why he should not summon the COAS. While apparently pinpointing the IG FC by bringing in the COAS, Chief Justice Chaudhry may have sent a warning to the civilian government, but his asking about the role of the constitutional government and his further comment that the time had come to summon ‘someone with authority’ showed his own frustration at the attitude of all executive authorities, which has been to attempt to deny any connection with, leave alone responsibility for, the situation in Balochistan.
Chief Justice Chaudhry highlighted an important truth about the situation in Balochistan, that even the provincial government does not seem concerned about the increasing lawlessness, let alone the federal government and its organs. However his question for the COAS is valid and deserves to be answered. Indeed, if the Prime Minister can personally appear in court, as can the Chief Justce’s own son, there is no reason the Army Chief can not and should not be sunmoned to explain the situation in Balochistan for the court’s satisfaction.