Separation of judiciary still not in sight

Three months from April 19 is July 19, which has now come and gone. Did the government complete the separation of the executive from the judiciary within this time or did the government once again break its word? Unsurprisingly, the government broke its word.

Not only that, when the SC signaled that it was prepared to give the government one last 4-month extension on condition that the government agree to seek no more, the government, which had earlier pledged to complete the separation by July 19 said that it couldn't make a time-bound commitment.

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The SC then took the step to adjourn hearing on the government's appeal until November 9 without granting it more time. We cannot help but notice that in effect the government has got a time extension. To the extent that July 19 has passed, the government is already enjoying an extension and the adjournment does little more than to formalise the extension until November 9.

The SC has the power to hold the government accountable, and it is clear that if it chooses not to exercise its power, that the government will continue to drag its feet on a constitutional imperative and the SC's well-laid out directives to redeem on it.

Public perception is if the government had the will to implement the SC directives it could have done so by now. Alternatively, had the court itself served a deadline on the government, the latter could be held answerable to it. The government's dithering on its own election manifesto pledge to separate the judiciary from the executive can but lead to one conclusion: contrary to its public pronouncements, it actually wants to retain executive control over the subordinate judiciary. We would like to be disproved on that well before the government's tenure ends.