ISLAMABAD: The Minister for Law and Justice, Azam Nazeer Tarar, on Thursday hinted at the formation of a commission headed by a retired judge to probe into the revelations made by six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges about alleged interference of intelligence agencies in judicial matters.
Speaking at a presser along with Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Awan, following a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa at the Supreme Court, which the duo also attended, he said the federal government would place the letter from the six judges of IHC alleging interference in judicial affairs by the country’s intelligence apparatus for consideration before the federal cabinet to constitute an inquiry commission.
He said that during his meeting with the Chief Justice, the prime minister asserted: no compromise on independence of judiciary and a thorough probe into the allegations will be done.
“…it was decided that the government would place the judges’ letter before the federal cabinet and the prime minister would strive for a neutral, non-partisan and retired legal personality to be requested to head an inquiry commission and submit a report after investigating in accordance with the law,” he added.
He added that the prime minister also reassured the chief justice that it was the government’s duty to ensure an investigation into the matter and that such allegations if found were true did not reoccur in the future.
He said that he and the AGP would work on the initial terms of reference for the inquiry commission, adding they would include a probe for not only the current controversy but also past events as far as the law or cabinet allowed.
He further said that it was inappropriate to mention the names initially under consideration to head the commission since the cabinet had the authority over the matter.
Tarar said the body would be notified in two to four days after discussing the matter before the federal cabinet, adding CJP Isa had also agreed to the formation of an inquiry commission.
He explained that there was already a mechanism present to investigate such matters which the federal government carried out and thus it was better for a commission to investigate it instead of a suo motu notice.
To a question about whether the letter amounted to misconduct from the judges, he said the answer to this should come from the commission.
Tarar said the letter from the six IHC judges mentioned events “from the last year (and) with a regime which is no longer in the judicial corridors,” adding most of the allegations in the letter concerned the “tenure of the former chief justice of Pakistan (Umar Atta Bandial)”.
He said that CJP Isa had expressed a wish for the prime minister to have a talk with him on the matter and the latter had readily agreed to prioritise the issue over all others due to the seriousness of the development.
Tarar said the meeting’s participants discussed the matter, as well as, other important national matters such as tax-related issues and fiscal matters.
“There was a discussion on different aspects of the matter at hand considering its seriousness and it was also discussed that this has not happened for the first time and such voices have been raised before in history as well,” said the minister while referring to the case of ex-IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui.
He said that the prime minister also reassured that Pakistan was a constitutional organism in which all institutions performed their roles while remaining within their domains.
“The prime minister reassured the chief justice and his judges that institutional interference should never happen and the government’s obligations in this regard will be fulfilled,” he added.
Tarar said PM Shehbaz also expressed his expectation that the institutions would not transgress their constitutional boundaries and domains.
The minister said that speaking for himself it would have been better if the letter had come out in the term of the previous CJP since it concerned events from that timeframe and judicial regime.
Tarar said such matters should be transparently dealt with instead of being swept under the rug.
This is pertinent to mention that in a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, six IHC judges have accused the intelligence agencies of coercing and intimidating them over “politically consequential” cases, asking the top judge to address the issue.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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