Asian Human Rights Commission Calls for Probe Against Arslan Ifthikar Chaudhry

The Judicial Commission must probe the allegations against the Chief Justice and his son for the misuse of his office

The parliamentarians and leaders of the lawyer’s movement, which restored the judiciary, have come out with strong criticism against the Supreme Court and particularly against the Chief Justice of Pakistan. They are concerned that he has overstepped the domain of the Constitution and is acting too independently. Besides this, the members of the ruling parties are also accusing that the Supreme Court, particularly the Chief Justice is undermining the supremacy of the parliament and sometimes ridicules the mandate holders of the public.

The most disturbing debate in the print and electronic media is about the corruption charges against Arsalan Iftekhar (32), Choudry’s son who took bribes in the shape of luxury flats in London, hotel accommodation in Park Lane and to enjoy gambling in Monte Carlo from a property developer to provide relaxation in cases through his father. During the open discussion in the media it is also alleged that the Chief Justice is using his influence to stop any inquiry against his son. Due to his position as Chief Justice the judiciary is trying to appease him and protect Arsalan asserting that the demand for an inquiry against him is an attack on the judiciary.

In the effort to resist the attack on the judiciary via Arsalan’s corruption charges, the Supreme Court’s divisional bench has stopped the inquiry against him through a stay order just to show solidarity with the Chief Justice who is not happy with the media’s freedom. In a recent petition against the obscenity based programs in the media he tried to impose a kind of censorship for “guided freedom” to keep the Islamic identity of the country. For this purpose the CJ has squeezed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to follow strict rules on the media.

During the media discussions the members from the ruling party have also come out with the documentary evidence that the son of the CJ is using the official residence of the Chief Justice as the business address for the bank accounts of his company and has transacted millions of Rupees through these accounts. The parliamentarians are claiming that the CJ is fully aware of the business being transacted through his official residence and is therefore, equally responsible for the corruption of his son.

Riaz Malik, the property dealer, has submitted a statement before the court that he has showered gifts and cash in excess of 2 million pounds sterling on Arsalan Iftikhar Chaudhry. He submitted that everything spent during three all-expenses-paid trips to London by Arsalan Iftikhar and other unnamed members of the family of the Chief Justice, could be shown in the form of receipts, airline tickets and tenancy agreements.

On the first trip, in the summer of 2010, a three-bedroom flat was rented in Portman Square for a month for £40,000, and a luxury Range Rover was hired for transport around town.

The party made a four-day side-trip to Monte Carlo where Iftikhar gambled in the casino of the Hotel de Paris, losing his wealthy benefactor €10,000 (£8,800) (Rs. 1.2 million) in cash.

Trips the following year included stays at a luxury hotel and a flat off Park Lane costing £4,000 a week. Malik Riaz included copies of Arsalan’s passport, cheques, wire transfers, bank statements and tenancy agreements with his statement to back up his claims. He (Malik Riaz) said his son-in-law had paid all expenses for three trips made to London by Arsalan during 2010-11 and one visit to Monte Carlo in 2010. Arsalan was accompanied by an unidentified woman and a man during his trip to Monte Carlo, and the equivalent of Rs. 1.2 million was paid in cash for losses incurred by Mr. Arsalan while gambling, the statement said.

In a news conference Malik Riaz raised various questions on the transparency of the case and made claims that he met with Chief Justice in the presence of his son, Arsalan Iftikhar. He said that the Chief Justice knew about the business dealings and should have taken suo moto action before the media broke this news.

In addition to the accusation of corruption and open support to his son there is also serious debate on the biased performance of the Superior Court and the judges for exceeding their constitutional powers and allowing themselves to become involved in the political decisions.

The former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Asma Jahangir has said if the judiciary continues to nourish political thinking it will lead to unrecoverable loss. Talking to the media outside parliament, Asma Jahangir said when the courts do not give ruling in accordance with the constitution and show political bias, the common man loses confidence in the courts. She said the Supreme Court should see Arsalan Iftikhar and PM Raja Pervez Ashraf with the same eye of justice. She said justice should be practised but the court should also follow some code of conduct. She alleged the quickness in NRO case is part of a plan, which will cause a serious damage to the country and democracy. She said she does not support the new contempt of court law, as many of its sections are against the spirit of the constitution but restrictions cannot be imposed on the parliament taking away its right of legislation. She vowed she would never surrender if the judiciary forbids her from giving statements.

Aitzaz Ahsan has said that the judiciary was stepping out of the domain of the constitution in some matters and was getting too independent. While being interviewed by BBC Urdu, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association said that the activism of the apex court was one-sided and not equal for all aspects. He observed, “The stance taken by the Chief Justice in a speech that the judiciary can stop the Parliament from a Constitutional amendment clashes with the Supreme Court’s own decisions”.

He said that the Supreme Court could only review the amendments made through simple majority for any discrepancy within existing articles of the constitution. “However, amendments passed with a two-third majority cannot be challenged in the court”, he asserted. Commenting on the controversial Arsalan Iftikhar case, Aitzaz Ahsan was of the opinion that the proceedings against the CJ’s son had raised questions about the impartiality of the court. “The present judiciary is diverting from the prevailing principles of investigation into Arsalan’s alleged dealings with Malik Riaz Hussain”, he added.

Under these circumstances of the accusation and the campaign of maligning the judiciary the Judicial Commission must take these accusations seriously which highlight unconstitutional methods being used by the highest judicial offices. Any failure to do so could well undermine the peoples’ confidence in the judiciary which was restored by the very people that look to it for fairness and transparency. Demoralisation is a short step away if it is seen that the judiciary has one rule for its own and another for the people. This situation will be used by supra-constitutional forces if it is thought that the judiciary is corrupt and steeped in nepotism. It will be the excuse needed for another military takeover in the name of protecting the people of the country.

Things To Prove You Are a Bombayite

Bombay has no bombs and is a harbour not a bay.
Churchgate has neither a church nor a gate. It is a railway station.

There is no darkness in Andheri.
Lalbaag is neither red nor a garden.
No king ever stayed at Kings Circle ..
Nor did Queen Victoria stay at Victoria Terminus..
Nor is there any princess at Princess Street ..

Lower Parel is at the same level as Parel
There are no marines or sailors at Marine Lines.
The Mahalaxmi temple is at Haji Ali not at Mahalaxmi.
There are no pigs traded at Dukar bazaar.
Teen bati is a junction of 3 roads, not three lamps.

Trams used to terminate at Kings circle not Dadar* Tram Terminus (Dadar T..T..).
Breach Candy is not a sweetmeat market, but there is a Hospital.
Safed Pool has the dirtiest and blackest water.
You cannot buy coal at Kolsa street.

There are no Iron smiths at Lohar chawl.
There are no pot makers at Kumbhar wada.
Lokhandwala complex is not an Iron and steel market.
Null bazaar does not sell taps.
You will not find ladyfingers at Bheendi Bazaar.

Kalachowki does not have a black Police station.
Hanging Gardens are not suspended.
Mirchi Gully does not sell chillies.
Figs do not grow in Anjir Wadi.

Sitafals do not grow in Sitafal Wadi,
Jackfruits do not grow at Fanaswadi.
But it is true that you may get fleeced at Chor Bazaar!

A City where everything is possible, especially the impossible .

Where telephone bills make a person ill,
Where a person cannot sleep without a pill.

Where carbon-dioxide is more than oxygen,

Where the road is considered to be a dustbin,

Where college canteens are full and classes empty,
Where Adam teasing is also making an entry,

Where a cycle reaches faster than a car,
Where everyone thinks himself to be a star,
Where sky scrapers overlook the slum,
Where houses collapse as the monsoon comes,

Where people first act and then think,
Where there is more water in the pen than ink,
Where the roads see-saw in monsoon,
Where the beggars become rich soon,

Where the roads are leveled when the minister arrives,

Where college admission means hard cash,

Where cement is frequently mixed with ash..

This is Mumbai my dear, But don’t fear, just cheer, come to Mumbai every year!
You say ‘town ‘ and expect everyone to know that this means south of Churchgate.

You speak in a dialect of Hindi called ‘Bambaiya Hindi’, which only Bombayites can understand.

Your door has more than three locks.

Rs 500 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag.

Train timings ( 9.27 , 10.49 etc) are really important events of life.

You spend more time each month traveling than you spend at home.

You call an 8′ x 10′ clustered room a Hall.

You’re paying Rs 10,000 for a 1 room flat, the size of walk-in closet and you think it’s a ‘steal.’

You have the following sets of friend: school friends, college friends, neighborhood friends, office friends and yes, train friends, a species unique only in Bombay.
Cabbies and bus conductors think you are from Mars if you call the roads by their Indian name, they are more familiar with Warden Road, Peddar à Road, Altamount Road

Stock market quotes are the only other thing* besides cricket
which you follow passionately.

The first thing that you read in the Times of India is the Bombay Times’ supplement.

You take fashion seriously.

You’re suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.

Beggars and the homeless are invisible.

You compare Bombay to New York ‘s Manhattan instead of any other cities of India.

The most frequently used part of your car is the horn.

You insist on calling CST as VT, and Sahar and Santacruz airports instead of Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.
Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes.

Being truly alone makes you nervous.

You love wading through knee deep mucky water in the monsoons, and actually call it ”romantic’.

Only in Bombay, you would get Chinese Dosa and
Jain Chicken

Salaam Bombay… Hai dil hai mushkil jena yahan………………

yeh hai mumbai meri jaan

 

26,000 Doctors in Burma for a Population of 58 Million

For decades, Burma’s military rulers spent less on their citizens’ health – just US$2 per capita in 2010 – than almost any other country in the world. As a result, the country has suffered from a chronic shortage of drugs, medical supplies, equipment and nurses.

In a country where 70 percent of the 58-million-strong population lives outside of urban areas, most villages lack basic healthcare, so when people get sick they often have to walk for hours to reach pubic hospitals or clinics.

But, as IRIN’s latest film, Burma: Awaiting Change, [ http://www.irinnews.org/film/ 4893/Burma-Awaiting-Change ] shows, tangible improvements in healthcare take a lot longer than political reforms.

Most of Burma’s population live in rural areas, while health services are concentrated in larger towns and cities. This means the health needs of most of the population of more than 50 million are unmet, especially in areas where conflict between the government and various rebel groups or inter-communal violence still occurs.

In the last two decades, the number of maternal and child health centres has stayed the same, while rural health centres have increased by only 95 over five years, far short of the need. [ http://www.moh.gov.mm/file/health%20statistics.pdf ] Most centres lack supplies, equipment, drugs and professional support, according to the WHO.

There is hardly any infrastructure. Most of the people who require immediate health services are neglected at the local centres.

Violence

Conflict has only made it harder to reach people in need, say health workers. In Kachin State ongoing fighting has displaced more than 62,000 people, with 24,000 in government-controlled areas and close to 40,000 in rebel-controlled areas. Another more than 7,000 are thought to have fled across the border into China.

Violence has warped malaria control along the country’s border with Thailand, and frustrated attempts to keep mothers and their newborns alive in eastern Burma, where the maternal mortality ratio is more than triple the national average of 240 per 100,000 live births.

Recent inter-communal violence in Rakhine State, in the north, has turned a bad state of health access into a “desperate” one.

Seeking health workers

In 2011, the country had 26,435 doctors nationwide, but most (15,508) are in the private sector, where services are unaffordable to most the population. [ http://www.moh.gov.mm/file/health%20statistics.pdf ]

In 2009-2010, people spent an average of US$12 per person per year on healthcare, of which only $2 came from the government [ http://www.moh.gov.mm/file/health%20statistics.pdf ], with the rest being covered by NGOs and patients. http://www.whoBurma.org/en/ Section6_168.htm

In 2008, the government reported there were fewer than 15 health workers for every 10,000 people, short of the internationally recommended 23 needed to provide basic life-saving services.

Most villages lack basic healthcare and patients often travel for hours – in some hilly regions for nearly an entire day – to reach hospitals or clinics located only in towns, and which are often dilapidated and poorly stocked.

Only one-third of the estimated 120,000 people living with HIV in Burma, who should receive antiretrovirals in terms of WHO standards, are being treated, and the shortage of medicine extends to other serious illnesses, including TB. Burma is among the 22 countries with the highest TB prevalence worldwide. [ http://www.who.int/gho/countries/mmr.pdf ]

The economic sanctions have hindered development, collaboration and establishing investment in the health sector,” noted the UNAIDS office in Burma, referring to donors withholding development dollars to protest the country’s human rights record.

The country received close to $5 per person in overseas development assistance in 2010, [ http://stats.oecd.org/qwids/#?x=2&y=6&f=3:51,4:1,1:2,5:3,7:1&q=3:51+4:1+1:2+5:3+7:1+2:120+6:2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010 ] according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – among the lowest worldwide, and a 28 percent drop compared to 2009.

The country’s per capita health investment of $2 is among the lowest worldwide. [ http://www.moh.gov.mm/file/health%20statistics.pdf ] Despite recent increases in government health spending, [ http://www.whoBurma.org/LinkFiles/Areas_of_Work_WHO_Burma-CCS_2008-11_Ch2.pdf ] WHO said ill-equipped hospitals and a shortage of life-saving drugs are still crippling care.

Without taking into account local currency devaluation or population growth over the past two decades, government spending on healthcare increased from 464.1 million kyat in 1988-89 (approximately $530,000 at the 2012 official exchange rate) to 51.7 billion kyat in 2008-09 ($59 million). The government has pledged to quadruple the 2012 health budget in 2013. [ http://www.moh.gov.mm/file/Burma%20health%20care%20system.pdf ]

Given the scale of need, change will be incremental. It is difficult to tell how long it will take. but it could take at least 10-20 years to reform. the public health services [which] are limited and nowhere organized.

Is Circumcision a Violation of Our Rights?

An international network of attorneys and supporters now addresses the multi-faceted issue of genital mutilation of children, particularly the practice of male circumcision.

Attorneys for the Rights of the Child (ARC) is a non-profit organization founded to secure equal protection for, and broaden judicial and public recognition of, children’s legal and human rights to bodily integrity and self-determination. ARC directs its efforts towards both male and female circumcision (also known as female genital mutilation [FGM] or female genital cutting), focusing on the American cultural practice of male circumcision due to its frequency relative to FGM in the United States and also due to the lack of any other legal organization currently concentrating on male circumcision.

ARC’s network of attorneys can assist families whose sons were circumcised without parental consent or below the “standard of care,” and those whose sons died from circumcision.

ARC is also working to assist plaintiffs wishing to expand the legal standard on this issue to make legal relief potentially available to all involuntarily circumcised males. The medical profession will confront a challenge to this inhumane disfigurement of baby boys’ genitals from an organization of legal professionals which it cannot afford to ignore.

Compelling reasons exist for strong concern among attorneys and the public about the various types of damage caused by circumcision. These including pain and suffering, psychological harm, behavioral changes, irreversible reduction or loss of full sexual function, and underreported tragic complications, including deaths. Moreover, no satisfactory medical justification for routine circumcision has ever been demonstrated.

Committed attorneys have already undertaken a range of legal actions against circumcisers which have made critical contributions to reduce the rate of routine neonatal circumcision in the United States.

The national rate has dropped from a high of 85% in the 1980s, to its present rate of less than 60%. However, ARC believes that no involuntary circumcisions can be tolerated in a civilized country.

ARC actively works to encourage professionals in relevant fields including medical ethics, psychology, the rights of children and youth, and the treatment of male sexual victimization to incorporate genital integrity awareness into their work.

ARC representatives have published pertinent articles in legal and medical journals and have presented papers at relevant conferences in these and other fields. ARC responds immediately when the need arises for a position paper, letter, or press release related to our expertise.

Foundational Philosophy

A number of human rights documents appear to forbid infant male circumcision based on such important principles as the right to physical integrity, the right to freedom of religion, the right to the highest attainable standard of health, and the right to protection against torture. These documents bind the United States, either through our direct ratification of the treaty or under principles of customary international law. The many laws against female genital mutilation, contrasted with the discriminatory nature of excusing and tacitly condoning male genital mutilation, violate principles of equal protection under both international human rights law and American constitutional doctrines.

Our own cultural blindness must not be allowed to warp American law by insulating perpetrators of circumcision from liability under a broad range of legal theories. By understanding the medical and psychological harm caused by circumcision and by positioning ourselves to enforce the legal and human rights guarantees of physical integrity and self-determination, we can work for the best interests of children, by guaranteeing them equal protection under the law.

HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES from CIRCUMCISION RELATIVE to  FOUR U.N. DOCUMENTS
	Universal Declaration on Human Rights UDHR UN General Assembly Resolution 217 A (III) -1948-	International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights ICCPR UN General Assembly Resolution 2200 A (XXI) -1966-	International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights ICESCR UN General Assembly Resolution 2200 A (XXI) -1966-	Convention on the Rights of the Child CRC UN General Assembly Resolution 44/25 -1989-
Self- Determination	Preamble, 1, 2	1	1	Preamble, 12, 1
Physical & Moral Integrity	29, 1-2	6, 7	__	27, 41
Forced Labor & Traffic in Persons	23, 1-3	8	__	32, 34, 35, 36
Liberty & Security of Person	3, 9, 12	9, 10, 11	__	16, 33, 37
Freedom of Religion or Belief	18, 19	17, 18	__	14
Protection of Children	16.3, 25	23, 24	10	19
Physical & Mental Health	25	6.1	12	24
Against Genital Mutilation	Implied Throughout	Implied Throughout	Implied Throughout	Explicit at 24.3
Excerpted with permission from Universal Reproductive & Human Rights: Ordering Corrective Action against North American Circumcisers, Ch. 1, “Introduction to the Urgent Human Rights Proposal” (p.11), by Anastasios Zavales. Copyright  1995 Ecumenics International Press, Sloatsburg, NY 10974

Activities and Accomplishments

Attorneys for the Rights of the Child has been active in a number of areas. None of our attorneys or support staff currently receives any compensation whatsoever. Our recent activities include:

United Nations Project

From July 29 through August 15, 2001, we were in Geneva, Switzerland, working independently and with a team we assembled to lobby the Sub-Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of the United Nations to acknowledge male circumcision as a human rights violation. We presented a well-received seven-minute oral talk to the Sub-Commission on August 14, 2001 and also submitted a “written intervention” which is an official United Nations document, UN Document No. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/NGO/1 (March 23, 2002), the first one addressing male circumcision as a human rights violation. We met individually with a number of Sub-Commissioners as well as many other representatives of the United Nations and other organizations and countries and discussed our concerns with them, predictably receiving a range of responses.

General Legal Support to Safeguard Bodily Integrity

ARC maintains a bodily integrity legal defense fund and is preparing to expand its activity in direct litigation to protect babies. We have been actively participating as both attorneys of record and a legal support center on circumcision issues in cases chosen to advance the struggle to secure equal protection for, and broaden judicial and public recognition of, children’s legal and human rights to bodily integrity and self-determination. We regularly receive requests from plaintiffs for referrals to attorneys familiar with genital mutilation issues. We refer each of these cases to appropriate attorneys for case evaluation. Often this results in lawsuits being filed. We remain active in many of these cases as a resource and legal strategist in consultation with the attorney and the plaintiff.

State Lawsuits over Misappropriation of Taxpayer Funds

We are currently preparing to file qui tam actions in a number of states regarding state expenditure of taxpayer money for medically unnecessary and harmful procedures, such as circumcision.

Brooklyn Federal Civil Rights Case

One exciting case in New York City should make history by combining a wrongful circumcision claim with a federal civil rights claim based on discrimination against Spanish speakers. ARC Advisory Board member Charles Bonner and myself are handling that case in conjunction with a local New York lawyer. The child was circumcised despite his parents’ repeated requests that he be left intact after a consent form signature was extracted from the mother while she was still upset following delivery and without an explanation to her in her native language, Spanish.

http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/E.CN.4.Sub.2.2002.NGO.1.En?Opendocument.

Award

At the NOCIRC Symposium in Washington, D.C. in April 2002, two-month-old Eli Svoboda was proud to accept the Human Rights Award from Marilyn Milos on his father’s behalf.

Support ARC’s work through donation or membership.

To become more involved, or for more information, contact:

J. Steven Svoboda, Esq.
Attorneys for the Rights of the Child
2961 Ashby Avenue   Berkeley, CA 94705 USA
Phone 510-595-5550   E-mail:

J. Steven Svoboda,  former Harvard Law School Human Rights Fellow, independent attorney active in human rights law, and a member of Human Rights Advocates.

Cheating on Wives is a Way of Life for the Politicians

by Asma Jehangir

It was the first good news of the year — Imran Khan never cheated on his wife. The shocking disclosure was that the others did!

Politicians need to grow up and give some credence to their viewers.

Multiple marriages or extramarital affairs of politicians have, unfortunately, never hurt the sentiments of our people. On the contrary, in some cases, it has won them admirers. More disturbingly, the wives take it all and there appears to be no dearth of women prepared to be additional wives to those in power.

Infidelity to wives has a painful history in Pakistan but it has also had indirect advantages.

A former PM’s first wife died penniless in a destitute home. His second in wedlock was celebrated as a pioneer for women’s rights.

Another stalwart of the Pakistan movement ditched his first wife to marry her sister.

A former PM had a childhood wife, a social wife and a closet wife but this made no difference to his popularity.

Many a Sher-e-Punjab has been through several wedlocks and their exploits only added to their charisma.

A number of political Khans, Sardars and Sains maintain several households and baithaksbut remain sagacious under the law.

Nevertheless, there is a silver lining amongst all such stories of female woes.

A PM took an additional wife, in the presence of his first APWA going wife. This raised alarm bells in APWA and all wives first, second or third, were outraged and felt vulnerable. For the sake of domestic peace, the first Women’s Commission was constituted. Resultantly, the Family Laws Ordinance was promulgated, which otherwise may never have become law for decades to come. Hence, cheating on wives has produced collateral advantages too.

However, Khan sahib rightly points out that his personal life as a bachelor is kosher as long as he remained loyal in wedlock. He, therefore, stands on a higher pedestal over those who have uneventful pre-marital youth but show their true colours subsequently. The moral of the story is that the chances of disloyalty in wedlock are greater if the groom is young and green, rather than if he has sown his wild seeds and has had enough of it.

The low level of mudslinging by politicians only convinces people that none is worthy of being elected and therefore they will be reduced to selecting the worse among the worst. Seasoned politicians never stoop so low.

Rather than blowing their own trumpets and beating the war drums for others, politicians should address issues and present solutions to the economic and political mess the country is challenged with. The bankruptcy of vision is strikingly apparent. Perhaps, it is now high time for our politicians to evolve a common code of behaviour towards each other, especially while addressing each other in public. This restraint may affect the ratings of some anchorpersons but will bring sobriety to politics. In any event, corruption has been ruthlessly politicised. Powerful individuals, even when caught red-handed will call it a conspiracy against them, while others go scot-free. Only the foolish get caught and pay for it too.

The defence to charges of corruption is often responded to by counter allegations and very few have been brought to justice or punished, despite the fact that corruption in Pakistan is endemic and nepotism a contagious disease.

The moral of the story is that everyone be given an equal opportunity to their right to corruption. If trapped, act indignant, play martyr and plead unequal treatment. Or better still; paint it as an ugly conspiracy against democracy, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.

Make certain that all your beneficiaries stand by you and shout foul. Those who have blind faith in the impartiality of the courts may also resort to public interest litigation in an attempt to secure a certificate of innocence in their favour.

The next good news is that the 2012 law on contempt of court has been declared void ab initio. In its place, the 2003 Ordinance has been restored. It was a victory for the legal fraternity, who were falling over each other to find a space in the long list of petitioners. The success was later celebrated in the Multan Bar Association. The 2012 law was indefensible but the manner in which the legal battle was fought around the bar associations was highly distasteful. They were the petitioners, the agitators and the commentators in all evening TV shows. Would that not amount to trying to influence the administration of justice? What was all the fuss and strikes about? A law was challenged and the courts have the power to strike it down. It would have happened. Yet, unnecessary hype was created as though its existence for a single day would destroy the edifice of justice.

No time was wasted and the jurisdiction of the High Courts under Article 199 assumed by the Supreme Court. A short order was passed, not only striking down the entire law, but also curtailing the powers of the legislature. The 2012 contempt law was a bad law but not half as appalling as the new laws applicable to PATA and Fata where prisoners can be kept in custody for countless days and the evidence of security personnel is considered conclusive for conviction. The moral of the story is that the freedom of our judges to haul anyone for contempt is far more sacrosanct than the liberty of lowly citizens of PATA and Fata.