Daily Times

The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui.

Sources said the notice was issued over the high court judge’s speech at the Rawalpindi district bar last month wherein he accused the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of manipulating judicial proceedings and blamed the higher judiciary for country’s “deplorable” state of affairs.

In the notice, Justice Siddiqui has been directed to reply by August 28.

A day after Justice Siddiqui delivered the speech, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar observed, “I read about the remarks of a judge in Islamabad and was deeply saddened”.

The chief justice reassured that the judiciary was completely independent and not working under anyone’s pressure.

Moreover, the army, in a press release on the same day, stated: “An honourable judge of Islamabad High Court of Pakistan has levelled serious allegations against state institutions, including honourable judiciary and the premier state intelligence agency.

In order to safeguard the sanctity and credibility of the state institutions, Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan has been requested to initiate appropriate process to ascertain the veracity of the allegations and take actions accordingly.”

The apex court then took a suo motu notice of the matter following which Justice Siddiqui asked the chief justice to constitute a judicial commission to probe his allegations and offered to resign if he’s proven wrong.

This is not the first time that Justice Siddiqui has been served a show-cause notice. The SJC had already issued a notice to the IHC judge for making “unwarranted comments about some important constitutional institutions” while passing an interim order in the Faizabad sit-in case last year.

Another reference, the first public hearing of which was held on Tuesday, pertains to the high court judge’s alleged misuse of funds for the refurbishment of his official residence.

That petition was filed by a retired employee of the Capital Development Authority. The SJC is the only constitutional authority mandated by Article 209 of the Constitution of Pakistan to conduct inquiries into allegations of incapacity or misconduct against a judge of the Supreme Court or of a high court.

Published in Daily Times, August  2^nd 2018.