ISLAMABAD: Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan on Tuesday refuted allegations of the government or any other state institution interfering in judicial affairs, ARY News reported.
Awan’s remarks came shortly after the IHC resumed hearing contempt pleas pertaining to the character assassination of IHC’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and the leaking of Justice Babar Sattar’s personal details.
Separately today, Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Justice Babar Sattar once again raised the alleged interference by the intelligence apparatus in the judicial process.
In a letter to IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq today, Sattar claimed that he was asked to back off from the audio leaks case.
Justice Sattar alleged that he received a message from a top official in the security establishment to leave the case.
“In the audio leaks case, I was given a message to back off. I was told to back off from scrutinizing the surveillance system, but I did not pay any heed to such threats,” reads the letter.
The case is in connection with the petitions filed last year by ex-premier Imran Khan’s spouse Bushra Bibi and Najam Saqib, son of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, against alleged audio leaks.
Judges’ letter
Back in April, IHC top judges – including Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Baqir Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, and Justice Salman Rafat Imtiaz – penned the letter to SJC in the aftermath of Supreme Court’s March 22 judgment on Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui’s dismissal case.
In the letter, the top judges sought guidance from the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) with regard 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”.
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