ISLAMABAD, 3 July 2007 — Pakistan’s Supreme Court, holding a hearing into government attempts to dismiss the country’s top judge, yesterday ordered intelligence agencies to stop spying on judges. A 13-member bench headed by Justice Khalilur Rahman Ramday also barred intelligence officials from the court and ordered the building checked for bugging devices.
The order came after Aitzaz Ahsan, lead lawyer for Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, repeatedly complained that intelligence officers were “swarming” the court and spying on judges.
Ahsan submitted before the court pictures, which he claimed were taken by intelligence officials. He also produced documents and asked the court under which rule intelligence men were spying on judges and tapping their phones.
Ahsan claimed that one of the affidavits submitted by retired Maj. Bilal on March 8 was a complete fabrication done by the operatives of intelligence agencies who have no mandate to carry our such a task. Ahsan showed the court copies of documents saying that several were unsigned or incorrectly dated. He said there were also photographs of Chaudhry’s house and cars parked outside.
Government counsel Sharifuddin Pirzada and Deputy Attorney General Makhdoom Ali Khan expressed ignorance about such materials. The Supreme Court said it had to act.
“We feel compelled and left with no option but to order that no unauthorized persons including from intelligence agencies shall enter the offices of this court and the High Court,” the court said in an order.
The Supreme Court gave the chief of one security agency, the Intelligence Bureau, a week to check the court and judges’ homes for bugs. Men who say they are from security agencies have been regularly attending hearings of Chaudhry’s case.
The court also criticized government lawyers for filing “scandalous” material about the chief justice.
Musharraf originally sent the charges against Chaudhry to be heard by a special panel of five judges, but in May Chaudhry launched a Supreme Court challenge against both his suspension and the powers of the panel. In a U-turn last Thursday, the government asked the Supreme Court to deal with the entire case after all, and at the same time filed details of the allegations.
But yesterday, the government withdrew the application and apologized after complaints from Chaudhry’s lawyer and the Supreme Court judges hearing the case.
Ramday ordered the government to pay 100,000 rupees (about $1,660) for filing the “scandalous and vexatious” application, which he said aimed to damage judges including Chaudhry.
“What message you will convey to the world about the president, about the head of state, because you have maligned him... you have done all this in his name, he may not be knowing what you are filing,” Ramday said. He said the money would go to flood victims in southwest Pakistan’s Balochistan province. He also suspended the license of a legal official whom the government used to officially lodge the documents with the court, and told a senior Law Ministry officer to appear in court and give explanation.
UK Bomb Attacks Condemned
Islamabad condemned yesterday attempts to launch bomb attacks in Britain and said it was concerned about the safety of people of Pakistani origin there after reports of anti-Pakistani sentiment. “We are sure that the British government is taking all necessary steps to ensure security and safety of their citizens and people who are residents there,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
