Saad Rasool Law Associates

Hiring Associate lawyers (litigation and corporate) in Islamabad.

Those interested, please send your Resumés to [email protected]

With tremendous joy and pride, SR-Law welcomes the promotion of its newest Partner, Aitzaz A. Chaudhary.

Aitzaz holds an LL.M. from UC Berkeley. His areas of practice include corporate transactions, as well as civil and constitutional litigation.

Please join us in congratulating Aitzaz.

A review of NAB's performance before the honourable Islamabad High Court, and upcoming pitfalls in the Shehbaz Sharif allegations.

It is great to profess the substance and slogan of accountability. It is, perhaps, momentarily satisfying to see entrenched symbols of a wealthy status quo being dragged through the ostensible process of accountability. But all of it will be counterproductive, at best, if NAB does not focus on ensuring rigour in its investigative and prosecutorial functioning. This is not to say that every reference must result in conviction – that would render the process a sham. But that the sort of glaring infirmity – nay, incompetence – by NAB, which was at display before the honorable IHC, during the Avenfield Reference, must be taken to task.

Political and financial accountability, in Pakistan, is now a national imperative; with or without NAB. And the incompetence of NAB cannot be allowed to stall or undermine this otherwise noble endeavour.

NAB in the docket Over the past few weeks, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has become a focus of controversy and intrigue (even more so than it has been during its

https://sahafi.pk/saad-rasool-advocate-wins-big-case-before-elections-2018-as-lhc-sets-aside-new-nomination-papers/

کاغذات نامزدگی غیرقانونی قرار، آئینی ماہر سعد رسول الیکشن سے قبل بڑا مقدمہ جیت گئے یہ فیصلہ لاہور ہائیکورٹ کی قابل ترین جج مسز جسٹس عائشہ اے ملک نے معروف آئینی ماہر سعد رسول ایڈووکیٹ کی درخواست پر جاری کیا ہے جس میں الیکشن ایکٹ کی دفعہ 60، 110 اور 137 کو...

The Contempt Law Debate.

Should judicial contempt be a part of our laws? Can the courts choose to ignore provisions concerning judicial contempt?

The contempt debate As the ‘ship our State’ enters its final stretch in the ongoing politico-constitutional tussle between PML(N) and the honourable Supreme Court, an

How would Supreme Court's order in Sher Zaman case impact the judicial value and authority of the High Courts? Does this mean that only the weak and emaciated are required to abide by orders of the Court, while others (who can exert notoriety) will be dealt with softer hands? Is street power an antidote to law? Is the new law of our land sympathetic to those who can gather enough people to block the GPO Chowk at Mall Road? Do such people no longer need to abide by judicial orders? If someone can convene a hundred black-coats, will he/she not be held in contempt? If so, does this law only apply to lawyers, or will the same rule apply to members of political parties and proscribed organizations?

Just as importantly, if Sher Zaman is allowed to escape the grasps of LHC, even after all the sloganeering and vandalism, why did we convict others (in the past) for contempt of court? Did any of them commit a more egregious contempt (physical and verbal), as compared to Sher Zaman? Should we just scrap the contempt law… or at least make exceptions for all lawyers (and powerful politicians)? Better yet, should we institutionalize certain segments of the society to be beyond the reach of judicial verdict? Should we amend Article 25 (Equality) to state that certain individuals are ‘more equal’ than others?

Also, why was a special five-member bench constituted to hear the Sher Zaman appeal? Why was it not treated as any other case, to be heard by a (regular) bench? What makes Sher Zaman, and contempt by lawyers, so special? Also, why was Sher Zaman not directed to appear before the LHC, forthwith? Especially when we have all seen the videos and footages of sloganeering and stone pelting? While on the issue, why does the larger bench consist only of (honorable) Punjabi judges? Is there any truth to the whispers that a settlement is afoot? Are our courts of law negotiable institutions? Will the law yield to street power of the black coats, as it did so many times during the checkered years of Chaudhary Court?

Judicial surrender? Just as our national gaze is focused on NAB references against the Sharif family, the review petition in Panama case, and Benazir Bhuttos murder appeal a far

If MNS and the likes of Sher Zaman have their way, we will have a new social contract that divides people into income slabs, and tranches of street powers – if you have ‘X’ amount of money, you need not suffer through an accountability process. If you can gather a thousand people in the streets, you need not go to jail. If you can convene a hundred black-coats, you will not be held in contempt. If you can call a lawyer’s convention, you may scandalize and ridicule the bench. If you can get (buy?) a certain number of votes, you may steal and still not be disqualified. You may martyr people in the street (of Model Town), and will never be made to answer. If you live in a large enough mansion, you need not justify its means. If you own properties and iqamas abroad, you may escape this country, unscathed.

Law of the mafia This has been a harrowing week for the legal community, particularly in Punjab. What started off, earlier in the month, as the latest episode (in a long and