The Islamabad High Court judges have urged the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to convene a judicial convention over the matter of the alleged interference of members of the executive, including operatives of intelligence agencies, in judicial affairs.
The 11-point letter was signed by six IHC judges, including Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz.
The judges said that this issue has arisen in the aftermath of the top court’s verdict last week in Justice (retired) Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui’s case.
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 verdict noted that the SJC proceeded against Justice Siddiqui on the “assumption that the truth or falseness of the allegations leveled” by the former judge was “irrelevant”.
It also noted that the SJC opined that Justice Siddiqui had failed to substantiate, independently corroborate, substantiate or prove the allegations leveled by him.
The IHC judges, in their letter, noted that the code of conduct for judges prescribed by SJC does not guide 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.
In addition to this, the IHC judges requested that a judicial convention be called to consider the matter of “interference of intelligence operatives with judicial functions and or intimidation of judges in a manner that undermines the independence of the judiciary”.
