'Threat to judges': IHC clears air on Justice Aurangzeb's 'plea against spy agencies'
"Fake" X post claims IHC judge submitted petition to the top court against spy chief
- X post claims IHC jurist moved SC against spy agencies.
- IHC terms Fouzia's tweet about Justice Aurangzeb "baseless".
- No petition filed by Justice Aurangzeb to the SC: IHC
After an X post went viral on social media claiming that Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb moved the top court against the country's premier spy agency, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday termed the claims "baseless".
A purported Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fauzia Siddiqui, who claims to be the party's secretary information in Karachi on her verified X account, wrote yesterday that the IHC Justice Aurangzeb "submitted a petition to the top court against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief after the families of judges received threats from spy agencies".
The social media post regarding another senior jurist came after six IHC judges wrote a letter apex court on March 25, accusing spy agencies of meddling in judicial affairs.
The six jurists, who had approached the Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to formally register their complaints against the spy agencies, included Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Justice Tariq Mahmood Jehangiri, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rifat Imtiaz.
However, Justice Aurangzeb was not among those six jurists who had lodged any complaints regarding the "interference" of intelligence operatives in judicial affairs and alleged intimidation of judges.
Following the tweet, the IHC issued a clarification stating no such petition was filed by Justice Aurangzeb to the SC and termed Fauzia's tweet "fake".
"It is clarified that the contents of the said tweet/posts are not true and the same are baseless," it read.
The IHC judges in their March 25 letter had accused the country's spy agencies of meddling in judicial functions and called out the "intimidation" of judges tantamount to undermining the independence of the judiciary.
The serious accusations from the IHC judges led the top court to take suo motu notice after more than 300 lawyers from different bar associations also called upon the SC to hear the matter under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.
On the other hand, the federal government had also approved the constitution of an inquiry commission led by former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Tassaduq Hussain Jillani to probe the judges' allegations.
However, Jillani recused himself from heading a one-man inquiry commission and recommended the matter to be heard by the judiciary's constitutional body — Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) — besides suggesting CJP Isa to resolve the issue at the institutional level.
The matter is now being heard by a seven-member bench headed by CJP Isa and comprises Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.