By Raza Ruman
Former chief justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, who was caretaker nominee of PMLN, has been appointed the head of the inquiry commission that will investigate charges of interference into judicial independence by the intelligence apparatus.
On March 25 six Islamabad High Court judges — out of a total strength of eight — wrote a startling letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) members, regarding attempts to pressure judges through abduction and torture of their relatives as well as secret surveillance inside their homes.
According to the Terms of Reference (TORs) for the inquiry body released today, the federal cabinet approved the appointment of former CJP Jillani as the head of the commission.
According to the TORs, the commission will fully investigate the allegations of the IHC judges and determine their veracity, if any. It will also investigate if any official was directly involved in judicial interference and suggest action against any agency, department or state institution based on the facts unearthed.
The commission will also be at liberty to investigate any other matter during the course of the inquiry if it feels the issue to be important.
Meanwhile, th Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) once again plainly rejected the formation of an inquiry commission to investigate the bombshell letter of the six judges of Islamabad High Court (IHC) detailing the intelligence agencies’ meddling in judicial matters and demanded resignation of Chief Justice of Pakistan and Chief Justice IHC for their vacillation to take actions for the protection and safeguard of independence of judiciary and fellow judges.
It said that the judges of the IHC clearly stated in their startling letter that they repeatedly raised the issue before the Chief Justice IHC Aamir Farooq and even apprised the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court detailing about the interference in the affairs of the judiciary and pressure exerted on them to get decisions of their choice.
“What is happening in front of us is judicial surrender, as the judiciary itself is selling its independence to the executive,” it added.
Apart from Chief Justice IHC, Chief Justice of Pakistan and Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif had also been nominated in the letter; therefore expecting justice from these persons was tantamount to murder of justice, constitution and law, the PTI said.
added.
It said the Chief Justice IHC was complicit in the crime; hence he remained silent and did not take any action in this regard.
Raoof stated that all these unlawful activities were taken place when Shahbaz Sharif was the Prime Minister, thus it would be murder of law and justice to expect fair and transparent conduct of investigation because how the so-called planted Prime Minister could determine whether or not he was guilty.
“Cameras were installed at people’s bedrooms how they would do justice it was the murder of the law and justice,” it said and added that the letter written by IHC judges was a tragic chapter in the history of Pakistan.
He stated that they penned down details of their accounts as how they were pressurized and their family members were harassed, cameras were installed in the bedrooms of the judges and bugging devices were fixed inside their homes and even close relatives were kidnapped and given electric shocks. PAK DESTINY
