——— In a first of a kind media briefing, AGP says his office acts as ‘bridge’ to facilitate communication
——— Adds communication between State institutions “imperative”
——— Asserts national security matters should not be highlighted via letter
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan in a rare press talk on Tues-day refuted allegations of the government or any other state institution interfering in judicial matters.
Awan’s remarks came shortly after the IHC began hearing two contempt pleas pertaining to the char-acter assassination of IHC’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani on social media and the leaking of Justice Ba-bar Sattar’s personal details.
Awan maintained that it is necessary to issue clarification as the matter of the IHC judges’ letter is be-ing presented in a manner that implies a growing conflict between the executive and the judiciary.
“It was requested to hear surveillance-related matters in-camera, to ensure the matter does not go into the public domain in order to protect the capabilities of our security and intelligence agencies,” the AGP maintained, adding that this was communicated to the relevant quarters.
He clarified that the office of the AGP and the AAG acts as a “bridge” to facilitate communication.
“Neither the government or any state institution can meddle in the affairs of the judiciary and I strong-ly deny any such impression.”
“According to my information, no officer of any security establishment has contacted or can contact [any member of the judiciary]. And the contact that was made, was done through the AGP’s office to ensure sensitive information was not made public.”
Earlier in March, six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reached out to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) seeking clarity on the alleged intrusion of executive members, including intelligence op-eratives, in the judicial matters.
Six judges of the IHC—Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Saman Rafat Imti-az—penned a letter to the SJC led by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, expressing concerns about the “inter-ference” of intelligence agencies in the affairs of the courts.
“We, therefore, request that a judicial convention be called to consider the matter of interference of intelligence operatives with judicial functions and/or intimidation of judges in a manner that under-mines the independence of the judiciary.”
In their letter, the judges emphasised the necessity of investigating whether there exists an ongoing policy within the executive branch aimed at interfering with judicial affairs.
The letter also called for a judicial convention to deliberate on the issue of intelligence operatives meddling with judicial functions and intimidating judges, thereby undermining the judiciary’s inde-pendence.
