Member wants PBC meeting on allegations against

AC judgeBy our correspondentISLAMABAD: Barrister M Raheel Kamran Sheikh, Member Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), in a letter to the PBC secretary, has demanded to convene an immediate meeting of the PBC to consider making a demand for suo moto action by the chief justice of Pakistan and constitute a larger Bench about the allegations made by the PML-N leadership against an Accountability Court Judge.Barrister Kamran said that the PBC should apply to join the proceedings to assist in case larger bench is formed after suo moto notice. Barrister Kamran opined that alternatively, the PBC may itself file a Constitution Petition before the Supreme Court with prayer to hold an independent and impartial inquiry/investigation to ascertain genuineness or otherwise of the video of the alleged conversation of the Judge Accountability Court, Islamabad.And further to seek appropriate consequential orders in case videotape is found to be genuine and an order regarding live broadcast of all proceedings and an appropriate legal action against the Judge Accountability Court for any misconduct.Barrister Kamran Sheikh added that events that have unfolded since the subject press conference by PML-N leadership on July 6th have put the integrity and credibility of the judicial system on trial and the same has been accused of being weak, vulnerable and amenable to control.Unfortunately, this is not the first time the judicial system has been subjected to such serious allegations. Ironically, the public confession of Mr Justice Nasim Hassan Shah in ZA Bhutto’s case and leakages of audio-tapes/call recordings in Benazir Bhutto’s case had provided some cogent pieces of evidence in support of such serious allegations.He added that things appeared to be not so settled when last year ex-Justice Shaukat Siddiqui, made shocking allegations regarding interference in the administration of justice at IHC, who was removed by the president after inquiry held by the Supreme Judicial Council under Article 209 of the Constitution for his address. Be that as it may, no adjudication under Article 184(3), as demanded by the Bar, was carried out to ascertain the level of interference, if any, in the administration of justice at IHC.He added that the nation is confronted once again with serious allegations of the verdict obtained from the Judge Accountability Court, Islamabad, after blackmail and coercion. The counter allegations of attempting to bribe and intimidate the judge are equally serious.

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