Calls emerged from various quarters for a probe into allegations made by six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges against interference in judicial affairs by the country’s intelligence apparatus.
Amid the calls, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa summoned a full court meeting of the apex court’s judges, with the session lasting a little over two hours.
On Tuesday, six 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 abduction and torture of their relatives as well as secret surveillance inside their homes.
The letter addressed to SJC members — CJP Isa, Supreme Court Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar and IHC CJ Aamer Farooq and Peshawar High Court CJ Mohammad Ibrahim Khan — also questioned if there existed a state policy to “intimidate” and coerce judges.
The six judges also supported the demand of former IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui for a probe into the allegations of interference by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) operatives.The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) said today that the allegations required “serious actions by the judiciary as an institution”.
In a press release, SCBA President Shahzad Shaukat took “serious exception to the undue interference” claimed by the judges.“Such issues should be addressed in a befitting manners and any apprehensions/ misgivings which might be in the minds of honorable judges should be adequately addressed,” he said.
It declared “unequivocally that bar associations, particularly the SCBA, will not tolerate any incidents aimed at undermining the independence, integrity, authority and functioning of judicial institutions”.
In an open letter, SCBA Additional Secretary Sardar Shahbaz Ali Khosa urged CJP Isa to take suo motu notice of the matter under Article 184(3) of the Constitution and conduct a “thorough and transparent (live) hearing” of the case.
He also highlighted a “recent crackdown on journalists and media outlets who have reported on these alleged interferences” and urged CJP Isa to summon prominent journalists across Pakistan to detail the “extent of interference and coercion that the free press is being meted to on an everyday basis”.
