- Post X claims that IHC lawyer filed a motion before SC against spy agencies.
- IHC calls Fouzia's tweet on Justice Aurangzeb 'baseless'
- Justice Aurangzeb did not file any petition before Supreme Court: IHC
After a post by X went viral on social media claiming that Judge Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb filed a petition in the apex court against the country's premier spy agency, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday termed the claims “baseless”.
Fauzia Siddiqui, a purported leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who claims to be the party's information secretary in Karachi on her verified X account, wrote yesterday that IHC Justice Aurangzeb “filed a petition in the apex court against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief after the families of the judges received threats from spy agencies.”
The social media post about another senior jurist came after six IHC judges wrote a letter to the apex court on March 25, accusing spy agencies of meddling in judicial affairs.
The six jurists who approached Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to formally register their complaints against the spy agencies included Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Justice Tariq Mahmood Jehangiri, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rifat Imtiaz.
However, Justice Aurangzeb was not among the six jurists who filed complaints alleging “interference” by intelligence agents in judicial matters and alleged intimidation of judges.
Following the tweet, the IHC issued a clarification stating that Justice Aurangzeb did not file such a petition before the Supreme Court and termed Fauzia's tweet as “false”.
“It is clarified that the content of said tweets/publications is not true and lacks foundation,” it reads.
The IHC judges in their March 25 letter accused the country's spy agencies of interfering in judicial functions and denounced “intimidation” of judges, which amounts to undermining the independence of the judiciary.
The serious allegations by the IHC judges prompted the apex court to take suo motu notice after over 300 lawyers from different bar associations also petitioned the Supreme Court to hear the matter under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.
Separately, the federal government also approved the constitution of a commission of inquiry headed by former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Tassaduq Hussain Jillani to investigate the allegations of the judges.
However, Jillani recused himself from heading a one-man commission of inquiry and recommended that the matter be heard by the constitutional body of the judiciary, the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), as well as suggesting that CJP Isa resolve the issue at an institutional level.
The matter is now being heard by a seven-member bench headed by CJP Isa and comprising Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Yahya Afridi, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.
