ISLAMABAD: Lahore High Court Chief Justice Shehzad Malik said on Friday the judiciary did not want to fight any institution, though he noted it took “two to tango” amid a rift between the judiciary and the country’s powerful military that led to a ban on media reporting of court cases.
Pakistan’s judiciary has been criticized in the past for playing a subdued role while dealing with the military by validating its overt seizures of power. Earlier this year, however, six out of eight Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges openly accused the country’s top spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), of intimidating them to influence judicial decisions in politically sensitive cases.
The IHC also criticized the intelligence agencies and questioned their mandate in a case involving the disappearance of a Kashmiri poet, Ahmad Farhad, after his family accused the ISI of abducting him from his Islamabad residence for his social media posts that were critical of Pakistan’s powerful military.
Pakistan’s military has frequently denied such allegations, saying it remains apolitical and does not want to meddle in politics.
“We do not want any fight with any bar [association], any institution, any government, but it takes two to tango,” Justice Malik said at a ceremony at the Punjab Judicial Academy.
He noted the government’s respect would be there as long as the courts were respected.
He lamented the “law of the jungle” in the country, saying people had been deprived of their constitutional rights.
“Article 4 and Article 9 say that every Pakistani has the right to legal protection, but that right was denied,” he added.
Pakistan’s media regulatory body stopped television channels from airing news, opinions and commentaries related to ongoing court cases this week amid growing institutional tensions.
However, journalists’ associations covering Pakistan’s Supreme Court and the IHC have rejected the directive, saying they are in violation of the country’s constitution.
