ISLAMABAD, Mar 27 (NNI): The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar said on Wednesday that after tolerating interference by the country’s intelligence agencies in their affairs, the judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had now woken up and wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to bring it to its notice the ordeal they were going through.
Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, the PTI chairman said that the party strongly condemned this act of interfering and pressurizing judges and demanded the formation of a judicial commission to investigate contents of the letter.
“We also demand the provision of security to these judges,” he said, adding, “If action was not taken, people will lose their trust in the judiciary.”
Terming the IHC judges’ letter to the SJC, a turning point in judicial history, Barrister Gohar said that the interference in judiciary continuing till present day, “We vehemently condemn it”. He said, “this interference made in specific political cases, which were only belong to the PTI”.
Barrister Gohar said that today the judges are also seeking justice. “It is responsibility of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to provide protection to the judges. It is not a letter written by the six judges, but it is a charge-sheet,” he added.
He said that the judiciary would lose its credibility if the action was not taken now.
He said an important thing about it was that it explained in detail what kind of pressure was put on each and every judge by the agencies to get decisions of their choice in the cases involving the PTI.
“The revelations made by the judges corroborate our ‘version’ that there was pressure on the judiciary to convict former prime minister and ex-PTI chairman Imran Khan. And that did happen as he was convicted in three cases in just five days,” he said, adding, “There are statements by the judges, hearing the cases against Imran Khan, in which they had pointed out threats to them as well as their family members.”
Barrister Gohar said that hearing of the cases involving the former prime minister continued for as long as 14 hours. “Even cross-examination was not allowed and the judges gave their decisions in a rush,” he recalled.
PTI leader Omar Ayub Khan announced to raise the letter in the National and provincial assemblies, saying it has been clearly stated in the letter that the target is the PTI. He demanded that the inquiry should be held by the full court.
It is pertinent to mention here that six serving judges of the Islamabad High Court have penned a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), urging it to summon a judicial convention to review matter of “interference of intelligence agencies with judicial functions”. NNI
