I put the entire blame on what is happening in Pakistan on the Pakistan Supreme Court Judges. They passed orders ( like the recent one ordering the Pakistan government to send Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital for medical check up, allowing visits once a week to his family members, and phone calls by his sons twice a week ) which were promptly and summarily thrown by the Pakistan Establishment into the waste paper basket.
Instead of taking contempt of court action, the Judges turned a Nelson’s eye to this outrage.
It is evident that the Judges of the Pakistan Supreme Court only think of their own necks, their families, and their salaries, perks, and pensions.
But Qazi Serajuddin, the Qazi-e-Subah of Bengal was also a Judge, and he too had a neck and a family to think of when faced with a similar situation.
In his book ‘History of Bengal’, Prof. Charles Stewart mentions an interesting case of 1490 which came before Qazi Serajuddin.
One day while the Sultan of Bengal was practising archery, one of his arrows accidentally wounded a boy, the son of a widow. The widow immediately came before Qazi Serajuddin and demanded justice.
The Qazi was in a dilemma. He said to himself ” If I summon the Sultan to my court, he may cut off my neck for my impertinence, but if I overlook the Sultan’s act, I shall one day certainly be summoned before the Court of God to answer for my neglect of duty. ”
After much reflection, fear of God prevailed over fear of the Sultan, and the Qazi ordered one of his officers to go and summon the Sultan to his Court.
On receiving the summons, the Sultan instantly rose, and concealing a short sword under his garments, went before the Qazi, who far from rising from his seat or showing the Sultan any mark of respect said to him ” You have wounded the son of this poor widow. You must therefore immediately pay her adequate compensation, or suffer the sentence of the law. ”
The Sultan made a bow, and turning to the widow gave her a sum of money that satisfied her. After doing so he said to the Qazi ” Worthy Judge, the complainant has forgiven me. ” The Qazi then asked the woman if she was satisfied, to which she assented, and the case was then dismissed.
The Qazi then came down from his seat and made obeisance before his sovereign, the King, who, drawing the sword from beneath his garment, said ” O Qazi, in obedience to your command I came instantly to your Court, but if you had not done your duty I swear that with this sword I would have taken off your head. Thanks to God I have in my dominion a Judge who acknowledges no authority superior to the law ”.
The Qazi then took out a whip which he had concealed under his robes and said to the King ” O Sultan, I also swear by Almighty God that if you had not complied with the injunction of the law this whip would have made your back black and blue. It has been a trial for both of us “.
