ISLAMABAD: A judge of the Islamabad High Court observed on Wednesday that all the state organs were equal and there were no prestigious institutions in the country and the army was no exception.

An IHC bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb had taken up an appeal filed by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) seeking to expunge certain remarks from the order sheet issued by Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC in a missing person case.

The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) also issued a show-cause notice to Justice Siddiqui on the ISI’s application for accusing the spy agency of manipulating proceedings of courts.

The ISI through the defence secretary filed an intra-court appeal in the IHC against Justice Siddiqui’s order issued on July 18.

Assistant Attorney General Khawaja Mohammad Imtiaz, who filed the appeal, argued that the single-member bench, while hearing a habeas corpus petition, unnecessarily dragged the premier intelligence agency into the controversy.

High court takes up ISI appeal seeking to expunge certain remarks made by Justice Siddiqui in missing person case

He said Justice Siddiqui had passed several “unwarranted remarks” against the “prestigious institution” of army, intelligence agencies, judiciary, etc, when the person had already been recovered and produced before the court.

At this, Justice Farooq said: “There are no prestigious institutions. All institutions are mere institutions. They are made of people and we should see if there is any drawback.”

Subsequently, the court issued notices to the Islamabad inspector general of police, director general of the Intelligence Bureau, station house officer of the Aabpara police station and Iftikhar Ahmed Raja, the petitioner in the habeas corpus case. The court directed the advocate general for Islamabad to also appear before it on Thursday (today).

The appeal stated that Justice Siddiqui had specifically observed how cases were marked to different judges on the directives of such elements.

“Everyone knows how proceedings are manipulated, from where strings are pulled and when power wielded and manoeuvred to achieve desired results,” the appeal quoted Justice Siddiqui as having observed in his July 18 order. “It is matter of great concern that even benches are constituted and cases are marked to different benches on the direction of such elements. To remain like a silent spectator is against the oath made by every judge provided by the Constitution,” the order further said.

The appeal stated that the allegations against the intelligence agency were “not only unsubstantiated and unfounded but also direct attack/allegation on the appellants, the institution of Pak Army, judiciary” and specifically the IHC chief justice and other judges.

It said the abducted man did not accuse any law enforcement agency, yet the judge made comments in his written order. “The impugned order is based upon mala fide and goes beyond the scope of justice and puts allegation on the appellant in a whimsical manner without substance, hence caused serious damage to the reputation of its premier institutions of armed forces, intelligence agencies and the judiciary,” the appeal added.

SJC proceeding against Justice Siddiqui

As lawyers’ bodies demanded a thorough probe into the allegations of ISI’s manipulation in the judicial proceedings levelled by Justice Siddiqui in his speech at the District Bar Association Rawal­pindi, and the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) also passed a resolution demanding that the matter be heard by a full court comprising all judges of the Supreme Court, the SJC on Wednesday issued the show-cause notice to the IHC judge, asking him to submit his reply by Aug 28.

The notice states: “After having examined the record and also the opinion of our brother Hon’ble Mr Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa…we are inclined to issue a show cause notice to respondent judge [Justice Siddiqui] and send the relevant material to him calling upon him to explain the conduct within a period of 14 days from today. Let the matter be listed on August 28, 2018 for consideration of reply of the respondent judge.”

Justice Siddiqui had demanded the formation of a one-man commission of a serving or retired judge of the Supreme Court who had never taken the oath under the Provisional Constitution Order to investigate the allegations of ISI’s interference in the judicial matters.

The Inter-Services Public Relations had also requested Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar to “initiate appropriate process to ascertain the veracity of the allegations” levelled by Justice Siddiqui.

The SJC is also seized with a reference against Justice Siddiqui for excessive spending on maintenance of his official residence. On Tuesday, the five-judge SJC adjourned the proceedings sine die after Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan expressed his inability to proceed with the case.

The AG explained that the documents to be exhibited along with the affidavit of Ali Anwar Gopang — a senior CDA official and the complainant against the judge — were scattered and very difficult to identify and mark specifically. During the course of proceedings, lawyer Tariq Asad informed the SJC about a reference against CJP Nisar which had not been fixed so far.

Another lawyer, Inamur Rahim, asked the SJC to fix for hearing five references he had filed against the apex court judges in 2012.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2018