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Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to discuss the allegations levelled by Islamabad High Court judges accusing the country's spy agencies of interfering in judicial matters, Geo News reported.
PM Sahrif is accompanied by the attorney general and the law minister during his visit to the Supreme Court. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah is also present during the meeting. The meeting comes after six judges of the IHC --Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz -- wrote to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to convene a judicial convention over the matter of the alleged interference of members of the executive, including operatives of intelligence agencies, in judicial affairs, according to Geo News. The letter further underscored that the code of conduct for judges prescribed by Supreme Judicial Council provides no guidance on how they "must react to and or report incidents that are tantamount to intimidation and interfere with judicial independence". Earlier on Wednesday, a full court meeting of the apex court was held in the federal capital to deliberate on the judges' letter that sought guidance from the SJC "with regard to the duty of a judge to report and respond to actions on the part of members of the executive, including operatives of intelligence agencies, that seek to interfere with the discharge of his/her official functions and qualify as intimidation." The two-hour huddle, convened by Chief Justice Isa, took place after bar associations of Sindh, Lahore, Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as senior lawyers demanded a probe into the letter which arguably might have serious consequences for the country's judiciary, as reported by Geo News. Separately, a plea has also been filed in the apex court seeking an open court investigation of the Islamabad HC judges' letter. The constitutional petition, submitted by Mian Dawood Advocate, calls for the constitution of an empowered commission to investigate the "premediated" letter. Imran Khan-founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has demanded an "impartial inquiry" into the allegations raised by Islamabad High Court judges of alleged interference by ISI in judicial matters. The PTI has called the letter a "charge sheet" and has also requested security for the judges who made the allegations. (ANI)
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