Alleged corruption in judiciary PHC CJ says TI’s report based on assumptions

PESHAWAR: Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court (PHC) Mohammad Ibrahim Khan on Monday said Transparency International (TI) termed judiciary the second most corrupt section in the province on the basis of assumptions.

Quoting the survey, the PHC chief justice said that 80 percent people had termed the judiciary clean, but the report did not mention it.

The court directed the member of the Board of Trustee of the TI to submit his reply till February 19 and adjourned the hearing.

A senior lawyer, who was appointed as amicus curiae (friend of court) to assist the court, told the bench through the video link that KP’s population stood at over 40 million while the survey recorded the responses of only 1,600 people of which 54 forms were rejected.

He said that only 39 people out of 1,546 said that the judiciary in KP was corrupt. The lawyer said that some points, which were mentioned in the report of the TI, were not based on facts.

The TI’s board member Habib Hashmat said that the report did not talk about rampant corruption, adding that the TI would respond to the points raised by the amicus curiae, friend of the court.

During the hearing, the chief justice remarked that he was not aligned with any political party. He said that a smear campaign was being run on social media against him and the judiciary. The PHC CJ said that the court decided the cases as per the law.

It may be recalled that: the PHC had taken exception to the results of a survey conducted by the TI terming the judiciary as the second most corrupt sector in KP.

The PHC chief justice had asked the TI board member to provide evidence about the prevalence of corruption in the judiciary so that action could be taken against whoever was involved in corrupt practices.

The PHC chief justice had asked the board member of TI whether he could provide evidence about the corrupt practices believed to be happening in the judiciary.

He has asked him on what basis the judiciary had been declared the second most corrupt sector.

The TI’s board member Habib Hashmat had told the court that the survey was conducted on the basis of opinion shared by the people.

He said the TI did not take any decision, rather the survey was based on public opinion.

The chief justice had said that he would take action if provided proof about corruption in the judiciary, starting from the high court. He had said action would also be taken against the lower judiciary if evidence about corruption was provided.