PBC wants IHC letter probe by serving judges

Lawyers file plea with SC seeking formation of full court on matter

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) Executive Committee on Friday demanded the formation of a commission, comprising serving judges of the Supreme Court, to investigate into the letter written by six Islamabad High Court judges wherein they claimed that the country’s intelligence agencies were “meddling” in judicial affairs.

According to a statement, an Executive Committee meeting, chaired by the PBC vice chairman, reviewed the judges’ letter. It added that the participants of the huddle noted that judges were held in very high esteem by the people as they were responsible for deciding cases.

The statement read that demanding the resignation of the chief justice of Pakistan and IHC as well as the campaign against them on social media was “unnecessary”.

It continued that the moves were tantamount to strengthening the hands of those who wanted division in the judiciary.

A new application has been filed by the lawyers to seeking to become a party to the letter case and to form a full court on the matter.

Besides, six members of the PBC have also requested to become parties to the suo motu notice case concerning the letter.

On Tuesday, senior lawyer Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan and the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) moved the SC seeking its own investigation into the letter.

Last month, six judges of the IHC -- Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Saman Rafat Imtiaz -- penned a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), expressing their concerns about the "interference" of the intelligence agencies in the affairs of the court.