On the letter of the judges, the hearing of the automatic notice continues in the Supreme Court

In the Supreme Court, the hearing of the automatic notice on the issue of the letter of the judges of the Islam High Court is going on. A 7-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa is hearing the automatic notice, the bench also includes Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Mandukhel, Justice Atharmanullah, Justice Musrat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

It should be noted that on March 25, 6 judges of the Islamabad High Court wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council regarding the alleged interference and pressure of secret agencies in the work of judges.

This letter was written on behalf of Islamabad High Court Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Suman Rift Imtiaz.

On the letter of the judges, the Supreme Court held two full court sessions to consider the matter, later the Chief Justice of Pakistan met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Following this meeting, a one-member commission of inquiry was approved on March 30, and Justice (retd) Tasadeq Jilani was appointed as the head of the commission.

In the declaration issued following the meeting of the Federal Cabinet, it was said that the meeting discussed in detail the contents of the letter written by 6 honorable judges of the Islamabad High Court on March 25, 2024.

The meeting was told that according to the full court declaration of the Supreme Court, the formation of an inquiry commission was proposed in the meeting of the Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faiz Isa with the Prime Minister.

However, later Justice (Retd) Tasadeq Hussain Jilani resigned from the chairmanship of the inquiry commission, following which Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa took notice of the letter and formed a 7-member larger bench.

In a letter released by six judges of the Islamabad High Court, it was said that we as judges of the Islamabad High Court should stop the Supreme Judicial Council from interfering in the work of the judges including the executive members of the secret agencies and putting pressure on the judges. Want guidance on

The letter further said that this matter came up as a result of the Supreme Court decision in which the dismissal of Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui by the Supreme Court in the year 2018 was declared invalid and illegal and said that Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui will be considered retired.

Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui was dismissed by the Supreme Judicial Council following allegations were made by him that secret agency officials tampered with the constitution of benches in the Islamabad High Court and cases in the Islamabad Accountability Court. interfere with the trial of

According to the letter, following these allegations, complaints were filed once morest Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on behalf of the then federal government and the army chief.

It said that the Supreme Court in its recent decision said that no judge can be dismissed without an investigation by the Supreme Judicial Council. has been declared malicious.

According to the letter, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui’s position has been won by the recent decision of the Supreme Court, but the illegal dismissal is not possible, were the officials of the secret agency really interfering in court matters at that time? The answer has not been found, if the intelligence agency officials were really involved in undermining the independence of the judiciary, how can they be held accountable so that such incidents do not happen in the future.

According to the text, following the Supreme Court’s verdict, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui also reiterated in media interviews the demand for an investigation into the allegations of interference in judicial matters by secret agency officials.

The letter said that while the current Code of Conduct for Judges is unable to guide how judges should respond to undermining of the independence of the judiciary by agents of secret agencies, we believe that The investigation is very important whether the policy of interference in the work of the judiciary by the state is still going on, which is being implemented by the officials of secret agencies.

In the letter written by the judges, the threatening incidents faced by the secret agencies to the judiciary of Islamabad were also mentioned.

The letter said that we request that a judicial convention be convened to look into the issue of interference by intelligence officials in judicial affairs and intimidation of judges to undermine the independence of the judiciary.

A day later, demands for his investigation came from various quarters, in view of which the Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faiz Isa called a full court meeting of the judges of the Supreme Court.

On March 28, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Chief Justice Isa, where the two decided to set up a commission to investigate concerns of interference in judicial affairs following approval by the Cabinet.

On March 30, approval was given to form a one-member inquiry commission into the allegations once morest the judges of the Islamabad High Court.

More than 300 lawyers have requested the Supreme Court to take notice of the allegations of interference in judicial affairs by the intelligence apparatus under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution on the issue of the letter of 6 judges of the Islamabad High Court on March 31. What did