The caretaker federal government formed on Tuesday a six-member joint investigation committee (JIT) to investigate the alleged social media campaign against the Supreme Court judges.

In a statement, the interior ministry said that the Federal Investigation Agency’s Cyber Crime Wing additional director general would be the convener of the committee. It also comprises representatives of the Intelligence Bureau, Inter-Services Intelligence, the deputy inspector general of Islamabad police, a representative of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and any other co-opted member.

The development comes days after the Supreme Court decided to strip former prime minister Imran Khan’s party of the bat symbol less than a month before next month’s general elections.

On Saturday, a three-member bench of the SC set aside the Peshawar High Court order that reinstated “bat” as the party’s electoral symbol. Consequently, the apex court upheld the December 23 order of the Election Commission of Pakistan that nullified the intra-party elections of the PTI.

While some appreciated the decision, but many legal experts and journalists criticised the apex court for curtailing the fundamental rights of the citizens.

Michael Kugelman, an analyst and scholar on South Asian affairs, called the development “brazen, not subtle, pre-polls rigging”.

The terms of reference of the JIT would be to “ascertain facts behind malicious social media campaign attempting to malign the image of the honourable judges of the Supreme Court,” stated the notification.

The committee would identify and bring culprits to book in accordance with relevant laws, presenting challans in relevant courts. It would also recommend measures to prevent such incidents in future.

“The JIT shall submit a preliminary report to the Ministry of Interior within a fortnight,” the notification said, “the FIA headquarters shall provide secretarial support to the JIT.”

The notification did not identify any social media posts they considered to be part of the campaign.

On Monday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan expressed concerns over the SC’s decision that was announced after a long hearing of the case.

“Denying a political party its electoral symbol not only significantly hinders its ability to freely participate in elections, it also effectively disenfranchises its voters, who rely on electoral symbols to choose their representatives,” it said in a post on X.

Earlier in the day, Supreme Court Bar Association President Shahzad Shaukat in a press conference lamented the campaign against top court judges in the country.

“Instead of [court] decisions, judges are being targeted,” he told reporters in Islamabad.