Pakistan Supreme Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah said that the judiciary should not have any external interference, saying that it was essential to develop a “firewall” around the judicial system, Dawn reported.
Shah’s remarks come amid the allegations levelled by six judges of the Islamabad High Court, who said that Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence, was interfering in the country’s judicial affairs.
Addressing the 5th Asma Jahangir Conference, Justice Shah said, “Firewalling is very important. There can be no external interference in our affairs. The judiciary will stand united against any interference that comes into our system and we take it seriously.”
He said that if there was no justice, then, then no institution would be able to exist, adding that it would only be better if the justice system worked independently.
“The justice system has to be strong, robust and independent for all the other institutions to develop, grow and prosper,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn.
WHAT DID THE 6 IHC JUDGES SAY?
The six IHC judges, on March 25, wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council about the intelligence apparatus’ attempts to pressurise judges through friends and family as well as secret surveillance on them.
The SJC is the highest body authorised to take action against judges of high and supreme courts.
The letter also mentioned an example that the ISI’s operatives intimidated two of the judges through “friends and relatives” for declaring against taking up a political case related to the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan last year.
It said the six judges had brought such cases in their chief’s knowledge and also met the then Chief Justice of Pakistan to “share their concerns regarding efforts of ISI operatives to affect judicial outcomes”.
The letter was signed by judges Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Saman Rafat Imtiaz.
PAK SC TO HEAR MATTER ON APRIL 30
Pakistan Supreme Court on Saturday clubbed ten petitions and applications that seek its intervention in response to the allegations raised by the six IHC judges about intelligence apparatus’ interfering in judicial affairs, Dawn reported.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, including Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Musarrat Hilali, Athar Minallah and Naeem Akhtar Afghan, will resume hearing the case on April 30, intitiated on the basis of a suo moto.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CASE TILL NOW?
A day after the six IHC judges sent their letter to the SJC, calls from various quarters demanded for a probe into the matter, amid which Pakistan’s Chief Justice called for a full court meeting of the top court judges.
On March 28, CJP Isa met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad, where they decided to form a single-member commission to hold an inquiry into the allegations levelled by the judges and submit its report in 60 days.
But, allegations of bias and a letter by 300 lawyers prompted the Chief Justice of Pakistan to hear the case in the Supreme Court.
CJP Isa, on April 3, had asserted that any “attack” on the judicial system’s independence won’t be tolerated. A seven-member bench to hear the matter after the six judges was formed by the Supreme Court.
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