In an unprecedented development, six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) have written a startling open letter against Pakistan secret agency ISI’s ‘interference in judicial matters’. In the letter, the judges have accused Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI of pressurising judges through the abduction and torture of their relatives. They have also alleged that ISI carries out surveillance inside their houses including bedrooms.
The letter was addressed to Pakistan’s Chief Justice (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), with copies sent to all Supreme Court judges. The SJC includes Justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar, as well as the Chief Justices of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and Peshawar High Court, Aamer Farooq and Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, respectively.
In their letter, the judges asked whether it is Pakistan’s state policy to ‘intimidate’ and coerce judges to get favourable outcomes.
The letter cites instances of interference by ISI
The letter has highlighted seven instances claiming interference and intimidation “to influence the outcome of cases of interest” by the intelligence officials.
They pointed out that when two out of three judges on the bench gave relief to PTI leader Imran Khan, they were pressurised by “operatives of the ISI” through friends and relatives. As per the letter, the court had rejected the plea to disqualify PTI leader Imran Khan for “concealing his alleged daughter” stating that the case was “not maintainable”.
The letter stated that the situation got so stressful that one of the judges had to be admitted to a hospital due to high blood pressure.
According to the six judges, they had informed the IHC chief justice and the then-CJP who claimed to have “spoken to the DG-C of ISI”. They were “assured that no official from ISI would approach the judges of the IHC”. However, the letter said that “interference on the part of intelligence operatives” continued even after IHC CJ’s assurance, the Dawn report added.
According to Pakistani media reports, the judges also mentioned that armed ISI operatives had kidnapped the brother-in-law of one of the IHC judges. As per the letter, the victim was “administered electric shocks” and “forced to record a video” making false allegations against a judge.
Further, during routine maintenance last year, one of the IHC judges found that his official residence had been bugged with spy cameras which were concealed in his drawing room and bedroom.
The letter added that when data from surveillance equipment was recovered, it showed that “private videos of the judge and his family members” were stored on it. It further read, “The matter was brought to the attention of Chief Justice IHC. There has been no determination of who installed the equipment and who is to be held accountable.”
The six judges had also attached copies of letters they had written to the IHC CJ on 10th May last year and on 12th Feb 2024.
They added that it was important to determine whether there was a “policy on the part of the executive … implemented by intelligence operatives” to intimidate judges.
