ISLAMABAD: Petitioner Advocate Mian Dawood on Wednesday filed a constitutional petition in the Supreme Court seeking a public judicial inquiry into a letter written by six judges of the Islamabad High Court to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on alleged interference by spy agencies. in the judiciary.
The letter, written a day earlier on Tuesday, urged the council to call a judicial convention over alleged interference in judicial matters by members of the executive branch, including intelligence officials.
In his petition, the lawyer requested the apex court to form an empowered commission and conduct an investigation.
He described the judges’ letter as a “premeditated plan”.
The IHC judges – who wrote the letter to the SJC – include Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Saman Fafat Imtiaz.
The judge asked for advice on the “interference” of spy agencies in the affairs of the courts, writing: “We are writing to seek advice from the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on the duty of a judge to report and respond to actions by members of the executive branch, including intelligence officials, who seek interfere with the performance of his/her official functions and qualifies as intimidation, as well as the obligation to report any such conduct that comes to his/her knowledge in relation to colleagues and/or members of the courts under the supervision of the High Court.”
The development comes days after the apex court declared the removal of former IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui illegal and ordered that he can now be treated as a retired judge.
The verdict noted that the Supreme Judicial Council proceeded against Justice Siddiqui on the “presumption that the truth or falsity of the allegations leveled” by the former judge is “irrelevant”. It also noted that the Supreme Judicial Council was of the view that Justice Siddiqui had failed to substantiate, independently corroborate, corroborate or prove the allegations he had made.
In their letter, the IHC judges noted that the code of ethics for judges prescribed by the Supreme Judicial Council provides no guidance on how “they must respond to or report incidents that amount to intimidation and interfere with the independence of the judiciary.”
The justices went on to say that they “believe it is necessary to examine and determine whether there is a continuing policy on the part of the executive branch of the state” to interfere in judicial affairs.
