Naveed Ahmad Khan
Islamabad : The Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa said on Thursday that executive interference would not be tolerated in the affairs of judiciary, two days after six out of eight Islamabad High Court judges raised the matter in a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council.
“Interference by the executive in the affairs and judicial workings of judges will not be tolerated and under no circumstances can independence of the judiciary be allowed to be compromised,” CJP Isa was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Supreme Court.
He said this during a meeting with PM Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Thursday. The premier was accompanied by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and AGP Mansoor Awan. Puisne SC judge Justice Mansoor Ali Shah was also in the meeting.
The CJP and the senior puisne judge said that “independence of the judiciary is a foundational pillar that upholds the rule of law and a strong democracy.”
The statement was issued after a second full court meeting earlier today after a meeting with PM Shehbaz.
It mentioned that the CJP received a letter dated March 25 from six – out of eight – judges of the Islamabad High Court on March 26. In the 12-page letter, the judges demanded that a judicial convention be summoned over the alleged interference of intelligence agencies in the judiciary.
The six judges who signed the letter are Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, and Justice Rafat Imtiaz.
The concerns of all the judges were heard individually in a meeting called by CJP Isa. The meeting lasted for over two and a half hours.
