Pak's Anti-Terror Court Judge Says Spy Agency ISI Harassing Him, Family

An anti-terrorism court judge, hearing the cases related to attacks on military installations in May last year by workers of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party, has accused Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency ISI of harassing him and his family members to get desired verdicts.

Judge (Sargodha) Muhammad Abbas has written a letter to Lahore High Court Chief Justice Malik Shahzad Ahmad Khan informing him how spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials harassed him and his family members.

The judge has been hearing the cases against Opposition Leader in Parliament Omar Ayub and other workers of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf related to attacks on military installations in May last year.

Ayub had alleged that last week at a hearing in a case in Sargodha ATC Judge Abbas was made hostage by the intelligence agencies.

In March, six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reached out to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) informing alleged intrusion of intelligence operatives in judicial matters.

The six judges - out of a total strength of eight - wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council members, regarding alleged attempts to pressure judges through abduction and torture of their relatives as well as secret surveillance inside their homes.

All judges of IHC also unanimously acknowledged that intelligence agencies are interfering in their judicial functions.

The judges accused the intelligence operatives of coercing them to extract desired verdicts in the case of former prime minister Imran Khan and other PTI leaders. Khan has been in jail since August last year in different cases.

The Supreme Court has sought proposals from high courts as to how to protect the independence of the judiciary from the interference of intelligence agencies.

On the ATC judge's allegations, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ahmad Khan summoned Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar for Thursday.

"In today's hearing IGP Anwar told the LHC that police have launched an investigation into 'serious threats' given to the ATC judge," a court official told PTI on Thursday.

The LHC CJ asked the IGP why the roads leading to Sargodha ATC, some 200 km from Lahore, were closed by police when the judge refused to meet an ISI officer. The IGP said: "The roads were closed as the judge was facing serious threats." The chief justice reserved the verdict on the alleged harassment of the ATC judge by the ISI.

Khan's party had strongly condemned the incident in which the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PTI Central Secretary General, Omar Ayub, along with other members of Parliament, were prevented from entering the ATC Sargodha by the unelected and mandate-thief government.

"As part of a malicious and well-thought-out plot to coerce the judiciary into making decisions of their choice," a PTI spokesperson said.

He said that the mandate thief Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz had a long history of armed attacks on courts to force judges to make favourable decisions, adding that this move was seen as a blatant attempt to intimidate the judiciary and prevent them from delivering justice.

He said the purpose of preventing the NA Opposition Leader and other MPs from entering the court was to coerce the court to decide at gunpoint while denying justice to public representatives.

"The trend of holding judges hostage and occupying the courts are being used as new tactics to prevent the courts from delivering justice, as such brazen interference in judicial affairs has already been described by six judges of the Islamabad High Court in their letter," he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)