March 27, 2024
By Aitzaz Ibrahim
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court Bar Association demands a Supreme Court-led judicial inquiry into allegations of intelligence agency interference in judicial affairs, as highlighted in a letter by six judges of the Islamabad High Court addressed to the Supreme Judicial Council.
In response to the allegations outlined in the letter, officials from the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) convened an emergency press conference at the High Court on March 27, 2024. They urged for a judicial inquiry and a judicial convention to address the matter.
President High Court Bar Association, Asad Manzoor Butt, while talking to Voicepk said that no organization has any right to interfere in the affairs of judiciary. “We will vehemently oppose any entity that attempts to do so.”
Former Vice President Lahore High Court Bar Association, Rabia Bajwa, demanded the Supreme Court of Pakistan to form a full court bench and conduct an open court trial on the allegation levelled in the letter.
Former head of the executive committee of the Pakistan Bar Council, Hasan Raza Pasha, held the letter as a bold move and emphasized the significance of the demand for a judicial convention.
The six IHC judges – justices Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Arbab Muhammad Tahir, and Saman Rafat Imtiaz – alleged interference of members of the executive, including operatives of intelligence agencies, in judicial affairs, in a letter written to the Supreme Judicial Council on March 26, 2024.
“We are writing to seek guidance from the Supreme Judicial Council with regard to the duty of a judge to report and respond to actions on part of members of the executive, including operatives of intelligence agencies, that seek to interfere with discharge of his/her official functions and qualify as intimidation, as well as the duty to report any such actions that come to his/her attention in relation to colleagues and/or members of the courts that the High Court supervises.”
The development came days after the top court declared the removal of former IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui illegal, directing that he may now be considered as a retired judge.
The letter says that Justice Siddiqui had been removed after he alleged that operatives of ISI were determining the constitution of IHC benches. “It has been declared that the action taken against Justice Siddiqui constituted mala fide and SJC had acted corum non justice,” the letter reads.
The IHC judges, in their letter, noted that the code of conduct for judges prescribed by SJC provides no guidance on how they “must react to and or report incidents that are tantamount to intimidation and interfere with judicial independence”.
The judges further said that they “believe it is imperative to inquire into and determine whether there exists a continuing policy on the part of the executive branch of the state” to meddle in judicial affairs.
Referring to the ‘Muhammad Sajid vs Imran Khan Niazi’ case and the extent of pressure imposed on the judges, the letter mentioned that the situation got so stressful that one of the judges had to be admitted to hospital due to high blood pressure.
It also referred to the abduction of an IHC judge’s brother-in-law by armed men who claimed to be ISI operatives.
The letter also said that an IHC judge found that his official residence had been bugged during routine maintenance of his house.
The six judges attached copies of letters written to Justice Farooq on May 10, 2023 and Feb 12, 2024.