Justice Siddiqui in hot water after CJP takes notice on army’s request

• Justice Nisar directs PEMRA to produce complete record of IHC judge, says ‘judiciary is independent’
• Army asks SC to initiate ‘appropriate process to ascertain veracity of serious allegations’ made by Justice Siddiqui ‘against state institutions’

LAHORE: Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Sunday took notice of allegations levelled by Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui on top spy agency after the media wing of the Pakistan Army urged the top judge to take notice and “initiate the appropriate process” against the IHC judge.

A day after the IHC judge lashed out at the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for its ostensible attempts to manipulate the judicial, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) stated: “An honourable judge of Islamabad High Court of Pakistan has levelled serious allegations against state institutions, including honourable judiciary and premier state intelligence agency.”

Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan has been requested to initiate appropriate process to ascertain the veracity of the allegations levelled against state institutions. pic.twitter.com/wiruWYNZre

— Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor (@OfficialDGISPR) July 22, 2018

“In order to safeguard the sanctity and credibility of the state institutions, Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan has been requested to initiate the appropriate process to ascertain the veracity of the allegations,” the military’s media wing said in a tweet.

CJP SAYS JUDICIARY IS INDEPENDENT:

During a hearing of the case at Supreme Court’s Karachi Registry on Sunday, CJP Nisar expressed annoyance over Justice Siddiqui’s remarks and said that “judiciary is working independently and free from any pressure”.

“I read about the remarks of a judge in Islamabad and was deeply saddened,” he said while directing the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to produce the complete record of the speech before the top court.

During an address at the Rawalpindi District Bar Association, Justice Siddiqui thundered, “In today’s era, the ISI is fully involved in manipulating judicial proceedings. Their personnel get benches formed at their will.”

The recent remarks made by Justice Siddiqui were being considered strong and unusual coming from a senior judge. While he alluded to the ISI’s interference in judicial matters, he did not provide evidence during his speech in support of his claims.

He also claimed that ISI approached IHC Chief Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi and said: “We do not want to let Nawaz Sharif and his daughter come out [of the prison] until elections, do not include Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui in the bench [hearing Sharifs’ appeals]’.”

Without taking names, Justice Siddiqui alleged: “I know who takes whose message to the Supreme Court.”

He asked: “Why was the administrative control of the accountability court taken away from the Islamabad High Court?” He alleged that the judiciary’s freedom has been divested and that it is now in control of “those with guns”.

“I was told that ‘if you assure us of decisions in our favour, we will end references against you’,” Justice Siddiqui had claimed, adding that he was offered to be made chief justice of the high court by September.

On Wednesday, the IHC judge had alleged that the country’s intelligence agencies were interfering in the matters of the judiciary, media and the executive, and warned about the damages it could cause.

The senior high court judge had said this during the proceedings of a case concerning the disappearance of two brothers by the ISI.