Three judges of Pakistan’s Lahore High Court on Wednesday received threatening white-powder letters, a day after reports emerged that the Islamabad High Court judges received similar letters. Lahore police and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) senior officers reached the LHC and took the letters into custody and launched an investigation.
Security of the LHC judges has been enhanced following the incident. The police took the employee of the courier company who delivered the letter into custody and shifted him to an undisclosed location for interrogation. The white powder is suspected to be anthrax, according to local media.
A day earlier, all eight judges of IHC, including Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, received “suspected anthrax-laced letters.” The threatening letters to high court judges surfaced after the Supreme Court took suo motu notice and formed a seven-member bench chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to hear the case of six IHC justices who accused spy agencies, including ISI, of meddling in judicial matters.
The IHC judges had alleged that their bedrooms were bugged, and their relatives were abducted and tortured by the intelligence agencies’ personnel to get desired verdicts. Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf: has demanded a thorough and immediate investigation into the threatening letters with white powder sent to IHC and LHC judges.
Chief Justice of Pakistan
Meanwhile, Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa promised today to thwart any attack on the judiciary’s independence as he indicated that a full court would hear the case about alleged interference in the judicial affairs by the powerful intelligence agencies.
The move came after former chief justice of Pakistan Tassaduq Hussain Jillani recused himself from heading a one-man inquiry commission formed by the government to investigate the claims by six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges about alleged interference by the intelligence agencies. A seven-member bench of the apex court, presided by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Isa, is hearing suo motu notice taken on the letter written by the six judges.
During the hearing, Attorney General Mansoor Awan said that the government in all sincerity had formed a commission to probe the matter but it came under attack on social media and from the lawyers who wanted the court to hear the matter. The chief justice said that he was committed to upholding the independence of his institution. “Judges must be sure that they are not in danger,” CJP Isa said.
“If there is any kind of attack on the judiciary’s independence, I would be at the frontline [in defending judiciary] and for sure, my fellow judges would be standing with me in this. And we never accept interference,” he said. “If someone has another agenda to do so and so, then they may become the Supreme Court Bar president or the chief justice and enact his will. We will not tolerate pressure of this kind,” he added.
(With agency inputs)
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