A fresh bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa was established by the Supreme Court on Thursday to consider a case pertaining to a letter sent by judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) accusing spy agencies of interfering in court matters.
Earlier this month, Justice Yahya Afridi withdrew from the case, and the bench of the supreme court was reassembled.
A six-member panel chaired by Chief Justice Isa and made up of Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Athar Minallah, Musarrat Hilali, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan will now hear the case on April 30 (Tuesday), per the highest court’s subject list.
Six IHC judges had urged on March 25 that CJP Isa call a judicial convention to discuss the issue of purported intelligence operator meddling in court matters or “intimidation” of judges in a way that jeopardized the judiciary’s independence.
The Chief Justice, who also serves as the chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), received a letter from the six IHC judges: 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.
In their letter, the judges requested advice from the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) over the “interference” of spy services in court matters.
