No complaint by Justice Miangul about ISI, IHC clears the mist

ISLAMABAD   -  After an X post went viral on social media claiming that Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb moved the top court against the country’s premier spy agency, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday termed the claims baseless.

A purported PTI leader Fauzia Siddiqui, who claims to be the party’s secretary information in Karachi, on her verified X account, wrote yesterday that the IHC Justice Aurangzeb “submitted a petition to the top court against the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief after the families of judges received threats from spy agencies”.

The social media post regarding another senior jurist came after six IHC judges wrote a letter apex court on March 25, accusing spy agencies of meddling in judicial affairs.

The six jurists, who had approached the 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 those six jurists who had lodged any complaints regarding the “interference” of intelligence operatives in judicial affairs and alleged intimidation of judges.

Following the tweet, the IHC issued a clarification stating no such petition was filed by Justice Aurangzeb to the SC and termed Fauzia’s tweet fake.

The IHC judges in their March 25 letter had accused the country’s spy agencies of meddling in judicial functions and called out the “intimidation” of judges tantamount to undermining the independence of the judiciary.

The serious accusations from the IHC judges led the top court to take suo motu notice after more than 300 lawyers from different bar associations also called upon the SC to hear the matter under Article 184(3) of the Constitution.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt