Cabinet approves commission for probing judges’ allegations
Former CJ Jillani appointed as the head of inquiry commission, which is being tasked with probing the allegations levelled by six IHC judges about interference of intelligence agencies in judicial maters
The federal cabinet on Saturday gave approval to the appointment of former Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani as the head of an inquiry commission, which is being tasked with probing the allegations levelled by six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges about interference of intelligence agencies in judicial maters.
The cabinet nominated the former chief justice following an agreement between Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and the incumbent Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa to investigate the mater.
“I have expressed my willingness to accept the responsibility,” Jillani, who enjoys an excellent reputation, told a TV channel.
He is a close relative of former prime minister and senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Senator Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. The former judge had also represented Pakistan in the International Court of Justice.
Jillani said since the commission of inquiry would take up a very sensitive issue, he couldn’t say at this point of time whether its proceedings would be open to the media or not.
Federal Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Awan would prepare the terms of reference (Tors) for the commission, which will start functioning in a week or so.
On March 26, the IHC judges - Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Satar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, and Justice Saman Fafat Imtiaz — sent a leter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), urging it to convene a judicial convention over the alleged interference of intelligence agencies in judicial affairs.
In response to the leter, Chief Justice Isa had on March 28 said that meddling by the executive in the affairs and “judicial workings of judges will not be tolerated” come what may. He had said this during a meeting with the prime minister.
The federal cabinet took up a five-point agenda, which included discussion of the judges’ leter and approval for seting up of an investigation commission. The meeting was held on Zoom as most of the ministers participated online.
In an unrelated development, in a first, a foreign minister has been included in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) while the finance minister has been excluded.
According to a notification from the CCI Secretariat, President Asif Ali Zardari has constituted the CCI on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s advice.
The newly constituted CCI includes the premier, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Minister of States and Frontier Regions Amir Muqam, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti.
Notable absence is Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. He was also initially excluded from the composition of the Economic Coordination Commitee (ECC) last week before Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to hand over the commitee’s chairmanship to Aurangzeb.
Dar is also leading the Cabinet Commitee on Privatisation.
The commitee is one that has historically been chaired by the finance minister.
The finance minister was part of the CCI in the previous caretaker government, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) regime but not in the PDM led government.
Meanwhile, Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said on X that “nobody has been replaced or substituted”, referring to the constitutional procedure for the CCI’S composition.
According to the Constitution, the CCI is responsible for formulating and regulating policies in relation to maters included in the federal legislative list and exercising supervision and control over related institutions.
The CCI will be constituted within thirty days of the prime minister taking oath of office,” it states, adding that the CCI should at least meet once in 90 days. However, in case of an emergency, the premier can convene a meeting on urgent basis at the request of the provinces.