Proposal for SC: ‘Officials of agencies should not be allowed to enter courts’

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court was suggested on Saturday that Intelligence Agencies officials, or their agents should not be allowed to enter the premises of the courts and they should perform their duties regarding watch or monitoring or to assist in security measures from outside the court premises.

In pursuance of the apex court’s direction, advocate Khudayar Khan Mohla, one of the petitioners in the suo motu case on the six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge’s letter matter submitted his proposals on Saturday and suggested that members of the intelligence agencies or their agents should not be allowed to enter the premises of the courts.

He submitted that essential police personnel are always available to ensure maintenance of discipline, law and order within court premises.

He also suggested that like the Supreme Court of Pakistan there should be committees for distribution of judicial business instead of sole discretion of the chief justice and district judges.

It is pertinent to mention here that a six-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa had heard the suo motu case taken on the letter of six IHC judges, alleging interference of intelligence agencies in the judicial affairs.

The court after hearing the matter for more than three hours, telecasted live, sought replies from the federal government over the letter.

Petitioner Khudayar Khan Mohla also proposed external measures to check or pre-empt any interference, saying the federal or provincial governments may be directed to properly legislate defining the parameters of national security or national interest to regulate all intelligence agencies etc operating federally or provincially or under the federal government or the provincial governments with a reporting system to the heads of the judicial organisations i.e. Chief Justice of Pakistan or chief justices of the respective high courts.

Filed through advocate G M Chaudhry, the petitioner submitted that there should be an internal system of monitoring and accountability at all levels to check corruption and misuse of powers as indulgence or entry in such realm once then take the person in greater depths making him vulnerable to all types of pressures, undue influence or internal and external interference etc to remain the part of the system.