A division bench of Islamabad High Court Thursday accepted a petition of Ministry of Defence (MoD) for expunging remarks from Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui's order against secret agencies in a missing person case. The IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) petition filed through Defense Ministry to expunge certain remarks from the order sheet issued by IHC judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui.
The court disposed of the petition after accepting the same. During the hearing, Advocate General (AG) Islamabad Tariq Mahmood Jehangiri contended before the court that the IHC registrar office had told that there was no pressure regarding formation of benches. Similarly, he argued that Chief Justice of IHC Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi had also rebuffed all the allegations in this connection.
The ISI through the defense secretary moved the appeal in the IHC against Justice Siddiqui's order issued on July 18. Assistant Attorney General Khawaja Mohammad Imtiaz, who filed the appeal, adopted that the single-member bench, while hearing a habeas corpus petition, unnecessarily dragged the premier intelligence agency into the controversy.
In the said written order pertaining to a missing person's case, Justice Siddiqui had said abduction of people from different walks of life had become a routine in Islamabad but instead of performing their statutory duty, the police came up with a stereotyped stance that persons might have disappeared on their own. The judge had said such statements were always made in those cases in which allegations were leveled against the intelligence agencies, adding that it was a sorry state of affairs and a challenge to the state. Justice Siddiqui had also claimed that even benches were constituted and cases were marked to different judges on the direction of such elements.
"Everyone knows how proceedings are manipulated, from where strings are pulled and when power is wielded and maneuvered to achieve desired results. To remain like a silent spectator is against the oath made by every judge provided by the Constitution," he had said.
In the Intra-Court appeal (ICA), the DAG said that Justice Siddiqui's remarks are "not only unsubstantiated and unfounded but are also direct attack/allegation on the appellants, the institution of Pakistan Army, judiciary" and specifically the IHC's chief justice and other judges.
He stated that the abducted man did not accuse any law enforcement agency yet the judge made comments in his written order. "The impugned order is based upon mala fide and goes beyond the scope of justice and puts allegation on the appellants in a whimsical manner without substance," he said.
The DAG added that the impugned order was circulated through media and social media and "caused serious damage to the reputation of premier institutions of armed forces, intelligence agencies and the judiciary."
He contended in the appeal that disputed questions of fact cannot be resolved while exercising jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution. The appellants have reproduced the order as well as several paragraphs in the appeal.
The DAG requested the court to set aside relevant paras of the impugned order and declare that no abduction was carried out by any law enforcement agency while respondents' petition be dismissed with cost.
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