In an explosive letter written to Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, six judges of the IHC — 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 — called on the SJC to summon a judicial convention over what they called the alleged interference of the executive, including operatives of intelligence agencies.
“We are writing to seek guidance from the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) with regards to the duty of a judge to report and respond to actions on part of members of the executive, including operatives of intelligence agencies, that seek to interfere with discharge of his/her official functions and qualify as intimidation,” read the letter.
The Supreme Court had recently declared the removal of former IHC Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui illegal after he had been removed from service when he alleged interference of intelligence agencies in judicial matters.
It was also stated that in May 2023, “the brother-in-law of an IHC judge was abducted by armed men.” In another incident during the summer of 2023, surveillance equipment was discovered in the residence of another IHC judge and it had private recordings of their family members.
In their letter, the IHC judges pointed out the lack of guidelines in the code of conduct for judges when they perceive a threat to the judiciary’s independence.
