SC resumes suo motu hearing on judicial meddling

A six-member Supreme Court bench resumed on Tuesday a suo motu hearing on a case related to allegations made by six Islamabad High Court judges regarding interference by the executive and intelligence agencies in judicial matters.

The bench comprises presiding judge Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan. The proceedings are being streamed live on the SC’s website and its YouTube channel.

Six IHC judges — out of a total strength of eight — wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council in March, demanding the SJC meeting as they raised they highlighted the alleged intelligence agencies’ interference in the judicial affairs.

They highlighted the purported attempts to pressure judges through the abduction and torture of their relatives as well as secret surveillance inside their homes.