Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq on Monday observed that the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) are responsible to stop campaigns against the judges.
The remark came as a full court bench headed by the IHC top judge initiated the proceedings against those involved in vilifying campaign against Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri. Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz are part of the full court bench. In the social media campaign, questions have been raised over genuineness of Justice Jahangiri’s educational degree, terming it “invalid”. Subsequently, a case was also filed on the same matter in the Supreme Judicial Council.
It should be noted that Jahangiri was a member of the IHC judges’ group who wrote a letter on March 25 seeking Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa to convene the judicial convention to consider the matter of alleged interference of intelligence operatives in the judicial functions or “intimidation” of judges in a manner that undermined the independence of the judiciary.
The six IHC judges – Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Justice Jahangiri, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan and Justice Saman Rifat Imtiaz – had written a letter to the chief justice, who is also chairman of the SJC. Addressing the additional attorney general, the IHC CJ said the court cannot tolerate the malicious campaign any longer.
The IHC, he said, took action in a similar matter earlier as well but nobody learnt a lesson from it. He warned that whoever was involved in the campaign would be brought to justice. The high court chief justice said it was the responsibility of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to stop such campaigns. Justice Aurangzeb said the government did not take any action when the drive was run against judges. He said an impression was being given that the government was behind the malicious campaign.
Meanwhile, Justice Farooq said they were not afraid of the accountability, however, any such campaign in the name of accountability would not be tolerated.
The chief justice asked whether they should tell the government and Pemra what their responsibility was and what they were supposed to do. Blasting the ongoing campaign on national and social media, he wondered if the judges should now give clarification in tweets that their educational degrees were authentic. After this, the IHC issued notices to the Pemra, FIA director general and PTA, as well as journalist Gharidah Farooqi, Ammar Solangi, and Hasan Ayub. The hearing was then adjourned till the end of summer vacations.
