"An independent judiciary means little when the free market has reduced it to commodities available on sale to the highest bidder." – Arundhati Roy, Indian author
Some 500 lawyers recently marched to petition the government for the much-vaunted independent judiciary. Is an independent judiciary independent of the government, or independent from the government in the context of the separation of powers?
The ghosts of 1988 judicial putsch have overstayed. None of the magistrates, judicial commissioners and judges is selected and elected by the voters, but selected and appointed by the Executive. The paradox is that the Executive itself is voted into office in blatant obedience to Westminster.
The independence of the judiciary is teleological as long as the Federal Constitution grants Parliament, a co-equal organ of state, the power to investigate it under Article 127 Federal Constitution (FC), and to appoint judges under Article 122B.
The puzzle begins with .......