IHC judges’ letter: SC clubs all pleas for hearing on April 30

The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan on Friday clubbed all pleas filed after IHC judges’ letter raised allegations of interference by intelligence agencies in the judicial domain, ARY News reported.

As per details, the apex court clubbed the pleas moved by Islamabad, Lahore, Balochistan High Court Bars, Aitzaz Ahsan, Shehbaz Khosa and Mian Dawood.

The attorney general of Pakistan and all the respondents have been served notices regarding the upcoming hearing of the case on April 30.

A six-member larger bench headed by CJP Qazi Faez Isa would take up the case on April 30. The bench also comprises Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhaill, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

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.

Read More: IHC judges’ letter: Justice Yahya Afridi recuses himself from suo moto bench

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 judgement 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”.

In the maiden hearing on the suo moto case on April 3, CJP Qazi Faez Isa hinted at the formation of a full court on the next hearing of suo motu notice taken on the IHC judges’ allegations.