ISLAMABAD: Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq convened a full court meeting on the issue of six IHC judges’s letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) alleging interference in judicial affairs, ARY News reported.
The well-known sources said that the full court meeting has been scheduled to kick off at 2:30 pm on Tuesday. It may be noted here that the IHC CJ had earlier sought proposals from all judges of the IHC.
Sources privy to the matter said that the IHC chief justice on the directions of the Supreme Court had asked the judges to submit their proposals by Monday, April 22. IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq had also sought proposals from Islamabad’s District and Sessions judges.
The full court meeting was called after the submission of the recommendations by the judges, the sources added.
Read more: CJP takes suo moto notice of IHC judges’ letter
It is pertinent to mention that Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Qazi Faez Isa on April 1 took suo moto notice of IHC judges’ letter in which they alleged interference by intelligence agencies in judicial matters.
The development came after 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 the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
In the letter, they 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 the discharge of his/her official functions and qualify as intimidation”.
The Supreme Court’s larger bench included Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
Later, Justice Yahya Afridi recused himself from the seven-member larger bench, saying that the apex court should refrain from proceeding with the case on a judicial level.
