Immunity Without Redress: Article 248 of the Constitution of Pakistan & The Assassination of Governor Salman Taseer

Abstract

This article examines how the constitutional immunity enjoyed by provincial governors under Article 248 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1973) contributed to a sense of legal helplessness among sections of the public in the period before the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, then Governor of Punjab, on 4 January 2011. Using a qualitative, doctrinal method, the study draws on constitutional text, reported judgments, classical and modern Islamic jurisprudential literature, and press reporting. It asks whether the criminal immunity of a governor is justified under the Constitution, and whether it can be reconciled with the Islamic principles that Article 2A and the Objectives Resolution make binding on the state. The study finds that the immunity is temporary but absolute within its term, that it left aggrieved citizens with no practical avenue to register a complaint, and that the early Islamic tradition, as reflected in the conduct of the Prophet and the four Rightly Guided Caliphs, did not recognise a ruler’s immunity from judicial process. The article stresses that the immunity was not the sole cause of the killing and that private violence cannot be justified by any grievance; the Supreme Court of Pakistan has said as much. It concludes by proposing the repeal or substantial narrowing of Article 248(2) and the introduction of procedural safeguards that preserve the dignity of high office without placing it beyond the reach of the law.