Judges’ letter: Justice Athar Minallah deplores truth remains casualty in 76 years

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD : The Supreme Court has resumed the hearing on a suo motu case related to a letter written by six judges of the Islamabad High Court alleging interference in judicial affairs by the country’s intelligence agencies.  

During the televised hearing, a six-member larger bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, will examine the proposals submitted by judges of the high courts.

Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Anwar is expected to give answers and suggestions to the allegations levelled by the high court judges against the country’s intelligence agencies of interference in judicial affairs. 

During the course of hearing, Justice Athar Minallah said “truth was hidden for 76 years”. 

Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail said the government was not doing anything about alleged interference in judicial matters. 

During the previous hearing, judges of the Islamabad High Court and provincial high courts submitted their proposals to the apex court.

The court issued order for making these proposals public.

The court remarked that if a secret agency wanted to respond, it could submit its response through the AGP.

The court also asked the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and others to submit their replies containing suggestions on the subject till May 7.

The six-judge bench conducting the suo motu proceedings comprises CJP Isa, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Jamal Mandokhail and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afnan.

IHC SUBMITS PROPOSALS

On April 27, the Islamabad High Court forwarded its proposals/suggestions to the Supreme Court, following a full-court meeting, which came after complaints of alleged intervention of intelligence agencies in legal affairs by six judges of the high court.

The IHC judges unanimously proposed that in the event of any interference, all civil, session and high court judges should report to their respective senior judges.

The recommendations stipulate that all judges must report interference within seven days, with failure to do so resulting in the judge being deemed guilty of misconduct.

Regarding instances of interference, the recommendations detail that a civil judge is required to report to the session judge, who will then inform the high court inspection judge. Subsequently, the inspection judge will escalate the matter to the chief justice of the high court.

The judges proposed that the high court administrative committee should make the final decision on whether to consider the matter administratively or judicially.

It is stated in the recommendations that the administrative committee can also refer the matter to the full court considering the seriousness of the issue, and ultimately, the high court can exercise its own discretion to deal with contempt of court in accordance with institutional agreements.

JUDGES’ LETTER

On March 25, six judges of the Islamabad High Court wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council regarding ‘interference of intelligence agencies in judicial matters’.

These judges included Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz.

In April, the Supreme Court took suo motu notice and hinted at constituting a full court to hear the matter. Before that, the federal government set up a one-man inquiry commission which could not initiate any proceeding due to refusal of its head, former chief justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani.

Following this, CJP Isa sought input from all IHC judges regarding the necessity of convening a full court on this significant issue.

Last week, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq convened a meeting of all IHC judges, where they collectively drafted the proposals.

courtesy : dunya news