— Commission empowered to ‘fully investigate’ allegations, determine their veracity
— Commission may suggest action against any agency, department or state institution
ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Saturday formed an inquiry commission headed by former CJP Justice (retired) Tassaduq Hussain Jillani to investigate the allegations of intelligence agencies in the judiciary levelled by six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges.
Tassaduq Hussain Jillani is a Pakistani judge who served as the 21st chief justice of Pakistan from 2013 to 2014, says in media reports. The announcement of the formation of the committee was made by PM Shehbaz Sharif while addressing the federal cabinet session.
A day later, calls emerged from various quarters for a probe into the investigation, amid which Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa summoned a full court meeting of the Supreme Court’s judges.
Terms of Reference
After a meeting between CJP Isa and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, the duo decided to form a commission to investigate the concerns of interference in judicial affairs following the cabinet’s approval.
According to an official statement issued following the huddle, the federal cabinet also denied the allegation of executive’s interference in judicial matters as levelled by the judges in the letter and termed them “inappropriate”.
The cabinet members were of the unanimous opinion that the Constitution enunciates the principle of separation of powers among the state institutions.
On the occasion, the PM reaffirmed his resolve for the independence of the judiciary and the principle of constitutional separation of powers.
He took the cabinet members into confidence about his consultation and meeting with the CJP after the letter.
The cabinet fully endorsed and supported the PM’s decisions and actions taken so far in this regard.
According to the Terms of Reference (ToRs) for the inquiry body released following the federal cabinet meeting on Saturday, 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. The inquiry commission would submit its report in sixty days.
The federal cabinet repudiated the allegations of the IHC judges and declared them to be “inappropriate”, adding that the consensus of its members was that they believed in the separation of powers of state institutions as per the Constitution.
PM Shehbaz reiterated his faith in the principle of the judiciary’s independence of the judiciary and the division of constitutional powers. He briefed the cabinet members on his meeting with the chief justice and they expressed their complete support of the decisions and actions taken so far.
According to insiders, the Terms of References (ToRs) were formed by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and the Attorney General of Pakistan, Mansoor Usman Awan.
The IHC judges — Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz — had on March 26 sent a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), urging it to convene a judicial convention over the alleged interference of intelligence agencies in judicial affairs.
Earlier, the Supreme Court on Wednesday held a full court meeting to deliberate on a letter by the six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges about alleged interference of spy agencies with “judicial functions.” Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa among other judges of the top court attended the meeting that lasted for over two hours in the federal capital.
Justice (retd) Jilani
In October 2017, the government nominated the former chief justice as judge ad hoc in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Kulbushan Jadhav case.
He served as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from July 31, 2004, to December 11, 2013, and subsequently as the 21st chief justice of Pakistan from December 12, 2013 until July 5, 2014.
He was born on July 6, 1949, in Multan and completed his Masters in Political Science from Forman Christian College and LLB from the University of Punjab, Lahore.
He started practising law at the Multan district courts in 1974 and in 1976 was elected general secretary of the district bar association. He was elected member of the Punjab Bar Council in 1978 and appointed assistant advocate general of Punjab in July 1979.
He was enrolled as an advocate of the Supreme Court in 1983 and was appointed additional advocate general of Punjab in 1993.
Justice (retd) Jillani took oath as a judge of the Lahore High Court on August 7, 1994 and was elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court on July 31, 2004, where he served till the imposition of the state of emergency on November 3, 2007.
As he refused to take a fresh oath, he was made dysfunctional. He took oath again as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2008.
Justice Jillani has participated in several international conferences and colloquiums where he spoke on issues which included ‘domestic application of international human rights’, ‘gender justice’, ‘alternative dispute resolution’, ‘forced marriages’, ‘transnational child abduction,’ and ‘religious tolerance’.
Judges’ letter
Dated March 25, the letter was signed by IHC Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Saman Rafat Imtiaz.
It mentioned seven instances of alleged interference and intimidation “to influence the outcome of cases of interest” by the intelligence officials, pointing out that when two out of three judges in the bench hearing the plea to disqualify PTI leader Imran Khan for concealing his alleged daughter opined that the case was not maintainable, they were pressured by “operatives of the ISI” through friends and relatives.
The situation got so stressful that one of the judges had to be admitted to hospital due to high blood pressure, the letter said.
According to the six judges, the matter was brought to the notice of the IHC chief justice and the then-CJP. The former informed the judges that he had “spoken to the DG-C of ISI and had been assured that no official from ISI will approach the judges of the IHC”.
The letter complained that “interference on the part of intelligence operatives” continued even after IHC CJ’s assurance.
It also referred to the abduction of an IHC judge’s brother-in-law by armed men who claimed to be ISI operatives. The victim was “administered electric shocks” and “forced to record a video” making false allegations, apparently against the judge.
“Subsequently, a complaint was filed against the judge of IHC before the SJC, accompanied by an orchestrated media campaign to bring pressure to bear upon the judge to resign.”
The letter revealed that in May 2023, an IHC inspection judge reported to the chief justice that district court judges were being intimidated and crackers were thrown into the house of one additional district and sessions judge.
The judge was even called to the IHC to verify the claims which he confirmed. But instead of probing the allegations, the judge “was made officer on special duty and transferred to IHC, before being sent back to Punjab as he was a judicial officer on deputation”.
The letter said that last year, during routine maintenance, an IHC judge found that his official residence had been bugged with spy cameras concealed in his drawing room and bedroom.
When data from surveillance equipment was recovered, it showed that “private videos of the judge and his family members” were stored. “The matter was brought to the attention of the IHC chief justice. There has been no determination of who installed the equipment and who is to be held accountable…”, the letter added.
Along with their letter to the SJC, the six judges also attached copies of letters written to Justice Farooq on May 10, 2023 and Feb 12, 2024.
The letters mentioned, among other complaints, ISI officials’ efforts to pressurise IHC judges and probe into the tax records of at least one judge “to seek a certain outcome”.
They added that it was imperative to determine whether there was a “policy on the part of the executive … implemented by intelligence operatives” to intimidate judges.
“[The] allegations of interference by operatives of ISI have been dealt with and relief has been granted to a former judge of IHC who was wronged. We believe that while such action was necessary, it may not be sufficient,” the letter said about Justice Siddiqui’s case.
The judges noted that the SJC’s code of conduct for judges did not outline the response to such incidents “that are tantamount to intimidation and interfere with judicial independence”.
They called for a judicial convention to discuss the interference of intelligence officials “that undermines independence of the judiciary”.
The consultation would help the Supreme Court to determine a course of action that judges could take “when they find themselves at the receiving end”, the letter said.
