Ikram Sehgal
The Advocate General of Punjab (AGP) during Shahbaz Sharif’s previous tenure as Chief Minister (CM), Khawaja Haris is now defending former PM Nawaz Sharif and his family in the PanamaGate case. He is also the lead lawyer in references filed by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Avenfield properties, Al-Azizia Steel Mills, Hill Metal Establishment and other offshore companies including Flagship Investment Limited. Rejecting his plea for six weeks to complete the trial, Chief Justice (CJ) Mian Saqib Nisar ordered the accountability court on June 10, 2018 to wind up hearings of all three corruption references in a month. Since the SC had “dictated deciding the case in a month”, on June 11, Haris suddenly excused himself from representing the Nawaz Sharif family on the grounds that it was not possible for him to work when the court planned hearing cases on Saturdays and Sundays. Remember Melina Mercouri as “Phaedra” singing “Never on a Sunday”?
Four days later on June 15, a new legal team led by Jahangir Jadoon took up Nawaz Sharif case. Jadoon said the deposed PM was still trying to convince Haris to represent him. Heading the legal wing of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Jadoon has regularly attended the court proceedings against the Sharifs but even then it would take him time to come to terms with the legal ramifications of the case. On June 19 Khawaja Haris “after much deliberation” rejoined the legal team. Submitting an application before the accountability court judge, he expressed reservations on the SC’s June 10 orders, which led him to recuse himself. His resignation gave a net gain of eight crucial days to the accused! During the Panama Papers case hearing, Nawaz Sharif made many mistakes but since then his lawyer has been accused of employing delaying tactics in the accountability court.
Khawaja Haris generated considerable controversy on being appointed AGP in June 2008. When CM Shahbaz Sharif sent a summary to the Governor, Salmaan Taseer kept Haris’ appointment pending for more than a month. Withdrawing the summary when Taseer was abroad the CM moved a fresh one, the Acting Governor Punjab Assembly (PA) Speaker Rana Iqbal immediately approved it and the Law Secretary duly notified Haris’ appointment as AGP immediately. This was constitutionally correct, but for someone supposedly upright, Haris, was it morally so? Haris has a history of motivated resignations; in Feb 2009 the first one in protest against imposition of Governor’s rule by the federal government when Shahbaz Sharif was disqualified by the then SC comprising PCO judges. Reappointed AGP in March 2010, Haris resigned again in June 2010 citing some personal reasons but many believed this was done on directions of the PML-N leadership, as he was likely to be engaged as a lawyer to represent the Sharif family. When his resignation was not accepted, he continued as AGP. He resigned for the third time in Nov 2011 over concerns of the appointment of some law officer in his office not being redressed.
An excellent advocate endowed with a brilliant legal mind, Haris was appointed by Justice Jawwad Khawaja of the SC in April 2015 as an amicus curiae to assist the court on the “redress mechanism of grievances of the public in an efficient manner”. Old hand Haris is often described as a lawyer who knows all the tricks of the legal trade in the art of filibustering. Filibustering can be characterized as a form of obstruction in any decision-making body. Filibustering is delay, or the threat of delay, usually in a legislative chamber to prevent a final outcome for strategic gain. Those engaging in filibuster must excel in knowing a number of ways to kill time, either through long-winded speeches, etc. The key features are the purpose (delay) and the motive (gain time) and never specifying the method. Other tactics used for causing delays are, but not limited to, are the absence of senior defence counsel busy with other court hearings or being unwell and not able to attend court. All this ring any bells?
(The writer is a defence and security analyst)
