ISLAMABAD: Former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Tassaduq Hussain Jillani recused himself from heading a one-man inquiry commission to probe allegations of interference by intelligence agencies in judicial affairs as the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the matter.
Last week, it emerged that six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges — out of a total strength of eight — wrote a startling letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) members, regarding attempts to pressure judges through the abduction and torture of their relatives as well as secret surveillance inside their homes.
The letter was signed by judges Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Saman Rafat Imtiaz. A day later, calls emerged from various quarters for a probe into the investigation, amid which CJP Qazi Faez Isa summoned a full court meeting of the SC judges.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met CJP Isa, and the two decided to form a commission to investigate the concerns of interference in judicial affairs following the cabinet’s approval.
On Saturday, the federal cabinet approved the constitution of an inquiry commission headed by ex-CJP Jillani to probe the allegations and decide whether these are true or otherwise. Under the Terms of Reference (ToR), the inquiry commission would fully probe the allegations levelled by the IHC judges and decide whether these are true or otherwise. It would also investigate whether any personnel of intelligence agencies were directly responsible for interfering in judicial matters.
On Sunday, lawyers and civil society members — in a joint letter — had urged the top court to take “cognisance of the matter in its jurisdiction under Article 184(3) of the Constitution as this issue eminently relates to public interest and to the enforcement of fundamental rights”.
They had called on the top court to initiate suo motu proceedings as it rejected the “powerless” one-man commission appointed by the federal cabinet to probe the claims. The letter said the apex court should form a bench of all available judges to hear the matter and proceedings should be telecast live for public consumption. It also urged the court to look into the allegations levelled by retired justice Shaukat Siddiqui, besides the recent claims of meddling in judicial affairs.
