CJP among other top court judges attend meeting to discuss allegations of spy agencies\u2019 interference in judicial matters
\n ISLAMABAD
\nA full court meeting of the Supreme Court judges was held in the federal capital to deliberate on a letter written by the six Islamabad High Court judges about the alleged interference of spy agencies in the judiciary, sources told on Wednesday.
\nThe Supreme Court judges including Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa attended the huddle that lasted for over two hours in the federal capital.
\nThe development took place after the bar associations and legal experts called for a probe into the letter.
\nThe sources said that the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan met the CJP and discussed the matter.
\nAfter the meeting, AGP, while talking to journalists, said that the matter is serious and it should be probed.
\nBar associations of Sindh, Lahore, Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as senior lawyers condemned the alleged interference, urging the top judge to look into the matter.
\nLetter by IHC judges
\nThe letter, written a day earlier on Tuesday, urged the council to convene a judicial convention over the alleged interference of members of the executive, including operatives of intelligence agencies, in judicial affairs.
\nThe IHC judges \u2014 who wrote the letter to the SJC \u2014 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.
\nSeeking guidance from the council on \u201cinterference\u201d of the spy agencies in courts\u2019 affairs, the judges wrote: \u201cWe are writing to seek guidance from the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) 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.\u201d
\nThe 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.
\nThe IHC judges, in their letter, noted that the code of conduct for judges prescribed by SJC provides no guidance on how they \u201cmust react to and or report incidents that are tantamount to intimidation and interfere with judicial independence\u201d.
\nThe judges further said that they \u201cbelieve it is imperative to inquire into and determine whether there exists a continuing policy on the part of the executive branch of the state\u201d to meddle in judicial affairs.
\nHRCP \u2018deeply troubled\u2019 by IHC judges\u2019 allegations
\nIn a statement, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it is deeply concerned by the allegations made by six high court judges, who claim that interference and intimidation by the state\u2019s intelligence agencies have undermined the independence of the judiciary.
\nThe judges\u2019 apprehension that such interference constitutes \u201ca continuing policy\u201d on the part of the executive and that intelligence operatives have attempted to \u201cengineer judicial outcomes in politically consequential matters\u201d is cause for serious concern, it added.
\n\u201cEqually troubling are revelations that judges\u2019 relatives have been abducted and tortured, allegedly by intelligence personnel as a means of intimidation, and that judges have been subjected to illegal surveillance in their own homes.\u201d
\nThe HRCP said if judges of the higher courts are subjected to such blatant interference, then by extension, it is likely that the lower courts are even more vulnerable. \u201cSuch authoritarian tactics have compromised the integrity of the legal system at the cost of people\u2019s access to justice, which is at the core of the constitution.\u201d
\nThe HRCP has long argued that the intelligence services, which have wrought significant damage to the country\u2019s institutions, must be brought under transparent civilian oversight by means of a new legal architecture, the statement added.
\n\u201cThis must now be done urgently to strengthen democratic checks and balances.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CJP among other top court judges attend meeting to discuss allegations of spy agencies\u2019 interference in judicial matters ISLAMABAD A full court meeting of the Supreme Court judges was held in the federal capital to deliberate on a letter written by the six Islamabad High Court judges about the alleged interference of spy agencies in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-396705","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n