Six IHC judges who wrote letter meet CJP

ISLAMABAD: Six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday held a meeting with Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and expressed their reservations over the problems they face while discharging judicial functions.

The meeting was widely reported by social media users of which some were claiming that the CJP met the six IHC judges soon after taking his oath of office on October 26. Although, there was no official confirmation regarding the development till late night Friday (Nov 1), however, it was learnt that CJP Afridi, after taking oath of his office, had held a meeting with IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who is also the chairman of the high court’s administrative committee. It was further learnt that the CJP had also invited other IHC judges. In this respect, it was learnt that the six IHC judges -- Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiani, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Tariq Mahmood Jehangiri, Justice Ijaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Justice Saman Riffat -- met the CJP on Friday.

It was learnt that the six judges informed Justice Afridi of their grievances and problems they faced while discharging their judicial functions. One YouTuber claimed that during the meeting, the CJP assured the IHC judges that there would be no interference of the Supreme Court in the IHC functioning. He further claimed that the chief justice also assured the six judges that he would address the issue if there was any interference made from outside in the judicial functions of the IHC judges.

It is pertinent to mention here that on March 25, a letter of six judges of the IHC came to surface wherein they had had demanded of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Qazi Faez Isa to convene a Judicial Convention to consider the matter of interference in judicial functions, or intimidation of judges in a manner that undermines independence of the judiciary.