Judiciary’s Response to Alleged Government Interference and Social Media Smear Campaign
Sources from the judiciary disclosed that the caller purported to be the Director-General of the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency). However, subsequent investigations determined that the FIA DG did not place any such call. The individual behind the suspicious communication attempted to directly contact Justice Jahangiri.
In response, the top jurist has directed the court registrar to promptly inform the FIA, providing them with the mobile number associated with the incident.
According to insiders, the suspicious call was directed to Justice Jahangiri’s office at the Islamabad High Court just two days ago. Additionally, messages were sent to the judge’s mobile number from the same suspicious source.
Previously, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has decided to confront head-on the alleged government-backed social media campaign targeting its judges, particularly Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri, with a robust institutional response.
IHC on July 8 started contempt proceedings against the people allegedly running a smear campaign against IHC judge Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri on social media platforms and issued notices to three journalists—Gharidah Farooqi, Ammar Solangi and Hasan Ayub.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq formed a 7-member bench comprising all IHC justices excluding Justice Jahangiri to hear the case.
He said the smear campaign against judges is intolerable and questioned if the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) were unaware of it. The Islamabad advocate general told the bench that the government would take action based on the judge’s response.
“Are judges left to respond to such questions? Should we also hold press conferences? We are not afraid of accountability, but we will not tolerate campaigns against judges. Whoever is found responsible will not be spared and will spend their summer in Adiala Jail,” responded Justice Farooq.
At the start of the full court hearing, Chief Justice Aamer Farooq stated that the court had explained many times, but no one learned a lesson, adding that the contempt of court proceedings are an institutional response to the social media campaign.
Since May last year, IHC judges have been facing the heat for resisting the alleged interference by executive agencies in their judicial duties. To address the issue, they met with the then CJP Umar Ata Bandial and the incumbent CJP Qazi Faez Isa to discuss the harassment, especially following the Tyrian case.
