Has Justice Azmat indirectly likened his political detractors to howling jackals?

ISLAMABAD: Justice (R) Sheikh Azmat Saeed, who headed the Broadsheet Inquiry Commission and has submitted his report to the federal government, has indirectly made an extremely harsh dig at politicians who had strongly criticised his appointment.

Despite constant attacks by opposition politicians over his appointment, the former Supreme Court judge did not change his mind and accepted the job. Similarly, Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had selected him for the assignment, had remained undeterred by the severe condemnation of Sheikh Azmat Saeed. The former judge had preferred remaining mum in the face of the chorus of denunciation. However, it appears that he has decided to take on his political detractors in the report in his own way.

“Parts of this report were ascribed late evenings at the foot of the Margalla Hills, where I was staying. The discordant symphony of the howling jackals was a constant companion. The howling of the jackals could not distract me from the task at hand,” the retired justice wrote – in what looked like a barely disguised rejoinder to his detractors.

He noted that apologists for corruption are a dime a dozen. “I wonder whether this phenomenon reflects some perverted form of ancient tribalism, moral bankruptcy, or such persons are simply standing there with their mouths open, tails wagging, hoping for some crumbs from the table. Whatever it may be, as somebody said, and I quote; ‘When I saw corruption, I was forced to find truth on my own. I couldn’t swallow the hypocrisy.’ “

The report states that even before the commission could become functional and upon provision of an office space and staff, that too after much foot-dragging, “the bureaucracy went into a self-preservation mode and withdrew into its shell like a threatened snail.”

The level of non-cooperation from the various ministries/divisions/departments “would have made Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi [commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi] proud,” he said, adding that “every effort was made to conceal, hide and ‘misplace’ the relevant record in a rather obvious attempt to cover up the incompetence and corruption of the present incumbents, their predecessors and political benefactors. Incidentally, the loss of record straddled more than one department and more than one continent.” The record was found missing not only in Islamabad but also at the Pakistan High Commission in London.

Before becoming a judge of the Lahore High Court, Sheikh Azmat Saeed had served as the special prosecutor of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). Regardless of his role in the scandal, it was during his incumbency that NAB had signed with the Broadsheet the disastrous agreement that cost Pakistan heavily.

He was also part of the Panama bench that disqualified Nawaz Sharif as the prime minister for life. It was for this reason that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders strongly rejected his nomination as the inquiry commission chairman.