Six high court judges write open letter accusing the spy agency of intimidation
Six esteemed judges from Pakistan have raised allegations against the nation’s influential intelligence agency, accusing it of meddling in judicial proceedings.
They claim it employs threatening tactics, including clandestine surveillance and possibly kidnapping and tormenting their relatives.
The letter, dated March 25 but only disclosed on Tuesday evening, sees the Islamabad High Court judges appealing to the Supreme Judicial Council to investigate the accusations targeting the Inter-Services Intelligence, the leading agency of the Pakistani military. The council, composed of the country’s chief justice and four other eminent judges from the Supreme and High Courts, acts as a judicial oversight body.
They assert the necessity to probe and ascertain whether the executive’s agents, who are accountable to it, persist in a strategy to coerce judges. The aim is to force them, by intimidation or extortion, to sway the verdicts in cases with significant political implications.
The letter sent to the members of the SJC — CJP Isa, Supreme Court Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, and Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan — raised concerns about whether there is a government policy aimed at ‘intimidating’ and pressuring judges.
The six judges also backed the call by former IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui for an investigation into the claims of disruption by operatives from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) announced today that such allegations necessitate ‘serious measures by the judiciary as a whole.’
In a statement, SCBA President Shahzad Shaukat expressed ‘grave concerns over the alleged undue meddling’ reported by the judges.
‘Issues of this nature need to be dealt with appropriately, and any doubts or misunderstandings that judges may have need to be fully resolved,’ he remarked.
The statement from the SCBA was clear that the bar associations, especially the SCBA, will not stand for any attempts to compromise the independence, integrity, authority, and operations of the courts.
SCBA Additional Secretary Sardar Shahbaz Ali Khosa, in a public note, asked CJP Isa to initiate suo motu proceedings regarding this issue as per Article 184(3) of the Constitution and to conduct a ‘comprehensive and public (live) hearing’ on the matter.
Government is establishing an inquiry commission to look into claims made by six High Court judges regarding coercion and meddling by the nation’s influential intelligence services in judicial rulings, according to Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.
At a press conference on Thursday in Islamabad, Tarar announced that this move comes after a discussion between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
This meeting was prompted by a letter from the judges of the Islamabad High Court to Justice Isa’s office, accusing the primary intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), of pressing them for biased verdicts in cases with political implications.