Mr Zafar Abbas, a senior journalist, speaking on Malick’s show on 13 Jul 2019, opined that if Judge Arshad Malik can prove all allegations as set out in his affidavit, he would be beyond guilt.
No, Mr Zafar Abbas, he would not be beyond guilt. The moment a solicitation is made to a Judge, and he does not take the prescribed actions as required under the rules/law, he already stands guilty. What he does subsequently may enhance his guilt. But nothing he does subsequently, can absolve him, except proving that it was beyond his power to act as per the dictates of the law after the solicitation was made and he failed to take such action as the law demanded of him.
But in such a case, it is not just the judge who is guilty, but also all those from whom such solicitation is forthcoming. So, it is worth examining this issue, the best that a layman can:
–That Judge Arshad Malik was trying Nawaz Sharif’s case in NAB was general knowledge. I suppose in a court this is called judicial knowledge i.e facts too well established to require proof. It is on the basis of such knowledge that judges are frequently asked to take “judicial notice.”
–There is no evidence to show that the Judge had a relationship with Nasir Butt et al, which was so close that the visit of Butt and company to the house of the Judge could be deemed routine. This has to be accepted as fact unless proved otherwise. Therefore, it has to be accepted that the visits of this disreputable company to the house of the judge, had a purpose. And that purpose was solicitation.
–The video itself is evidence enough of the fact that the primary purpose of Nasir Butt and company to visit the Judge was to blackmail him into discussing Nawaz Sharif’s case.
–The affidavit of the Judge corroborates this and the fact that a solicitation was made.
–Because the Judge did not take appropriate action in the wake of such solicitation, of his guilt there is no doubt; and neither is there any doubt about the guilt of all those who made the solicitation.
The next is the question of the attempt to bribe the judge and the attempt to threaten and blackmail him.
–The attempt at offering a bribe to the Judge remains an allegation in his affidavit. There is no proof of this at this stage.
–Regarding the threat of blackmail there is no doubt. Evidence of this exists in the video itself. This is further confirmed by madam Maryam Safdar herself. During her press conference she declared that she was in possession of another video which “decency” did not allow her to display.
And being the decent woman she is, she abstained from airing the same. This is the video which presumably shows the Judge in a compromising position, too indecent to be shared with the public at large. Thus, the tool which was used to blackmail the Judge is identified, and its possession with the chief blackmailer, behind the minor blackmailers, stands confirmed.
— Maryam has also confirmed that the Judge was blackmailed by the use of this “indecent” video.
The Judge too has confirmed this.
So, both sides are one on this. But the difficulty is that though the fact of blackmail stands established beyond doubt, Maryam insists that the blackmail was being attempted by “the powers that be” [i.e the “the establishment”, the army] but the Judge, who is the victim of the attempt at blackmail, is very clear that it was the flunkies of PMLN who were doing it.
–No proof has been given to establish the fact the “powers that be” were in touch with the Judge, least of all, for the purpose of blackmail. But of the attempt at blackmail there is no doubt whatever. So, who is one to believe in this case? Does one believe the victim of blackmail, or should we believe those whose attempts at blackmail have made him the victim? Thus, it is clear as daylight that the Judge was a victim of attempted blackmail, and the flunkies of Nawaz Sharif were behind this attempt.
When solicitation and the attempt at blackmail stand established beyond a shadow of doubt, it also stands established that a number of people had joined together to achieve these illegal purposes and nefarious designs. This establishes the fact of conspiracy beyond any doubt.
What is left to determine is only how deep this conspiracy was, and all who were involved in it.
Thus, the basic facts about solicitation, blackmail, and conspiracy stand established even without recourse to a formal inquiry. But the conspiracy, if fully uncovered, could go much deeper.
In his affidavit the Judge has stated that he was told by the blackmailers that his transfer as NAB judge was arranged by them, ostensibly to take charge of his new office and give relief to Nawaz Sharif and company–talk of the Godfather and the Sicilian Mafia!
What eventually transpired was that the Judge did indeed get transferred to NAB. And after Judge Bashir convicted Nawaz Sharif etc in the Avenfield case, an objection was raised against his hearing the other two cases marked to him. The reason cited was that having convicted them once, Judge Bashir could reasonably be expected to be biased against the accused. Thus, Judge Bashir recused himself, and the Flagship and Al Azizia cases landed in the lap of Judge Arshad Malik by default, being the only other NAB Judge available in Islamabad to hear these cases.
This was too much of a convenient coincidence and definitely smells of a larger conspiracy. As part of the larger conspiracy the following needs to be investigated:
–The role played by Shahid Kaqan Abbasi [the PM at the time] in the transfer of Judge Arshad Malik, as Judge of NAB Court.
–Why, as soon as the issue of this Video heated up, did Qamar Zaman Chaudhary, ex-Chairman NAB, flee Pakistan? His close connection with Nasir Janjua is easily established by extensive photographic evidence. But the act of his flight from Pakistan should lead one to believe that he had a larger role to play in this conspiracy.
–What also needs to be uncovered is Nawaz Sharif’s role in getting a number of hoodlums off the hook, who were involved in some very serious crimes in Pakistan, and are now settled in the U.K. One such criminal is Nasir Butt.
Lastly there are serious issues with the video and the use made of it by Maryam Safdar, when she aired the same at a press conference, and which became the centerpiece of her public harangues subsequently. Some of the questions which need being examined and answered are as follows:
–This video is not a single video. Different clothes worn by the Judge in different segments of the video, and at times no clothes at all, clearly prove that fragments of different videos have been joined together for the purposes of the presentation. And the audio is an overlay. So, it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that the video is doctored evidence. Who was involved in the conspiracy to doctor this “evidence” needs to be determined.
–Maryam Safdar took this clearly doctored evidence, knowing it to be such, presents it as untampered evidence, and tries to whip up public sentiment in order to build up pressure so that her father is released from jail. She knew full well that the superintendent of jail cannot release her dad on this basis. She also knew that only the judges could release him. So, would it not be wholly logical to conclude that the pressure she has set out to build and exert was intended to act as duress on the courts?
–The question then arises, should she not be tried for bringing pressure on the judiciary on the basis of evidence she knows to be false [shades of Calibri Font!]?
–A connected question is, to what extent is there culpability of senior PMLN leadership who were present at Maryam Safdar’s press conference, and who by their silence endorsed Maryam’s open attempt to bring illegal pressure on the Judiciary to bend justice to their will?
P.S. My take is that Judge Arshad Malik did surrender both to the threats of blackmail, and to the lure of inducements offered. In the Flagship case, which was built on irrefutable documentary evidence, he freed Nawaz Sharif on a technicality. On Al Azizia, which was a weaker case, he sentenced him to a term, which was not as harsh as it should have been, keeping it at a level so that bail could be granted. That was part one.
The goon squad then showed up for part two i.e that he should repudiate his own judgement in the Al Azizia case through a clear verbal declaration which would be taped. At this the Judge balked, and the PMLN team of conspirators had no compunction throwing him under the bus. All eyes are now fixed on Justice Athar Minallah’s return from a well-earned vacation. He will be hearing some of Nawaz Sharif’s cases in various stages of their progression. It is to be hoped that whatever else he does, he works for the redemption of the good name of the judiciary, which many have done their bit to sully. Being a wise man he should know who these people are, whether in or out of robes and wigs.