Journalist Hamid Mir has described the judicial meddling case as a “big challenge” for Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa, who is heading a seven-member Supreme Court bench to hear the case, given the gravity of the allegations against the intelligence agencies.

“May God give him [incumbent CJP] strength as the matter is very serious here and six high court judges are complainants here,” he said in an interview with Shaukat Piracha on his show Rubaroo aired on Aaj News on Monday.

“Don’t know whether the judge summons anyone in his court or not. If he bothered to summon someone, then don’t know whether anyone would appear or not.”

Mir was speaking on his experience of seeing the working of an inquiry commission formed after an attempt on his life on April 19, 2014. According to the journalist, the-then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had constituted a judicial commission after he survived an attempt on his life.

It comprised the-then Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali and two former SC judges Ejaz Afzal Khan and Iqbal Hameedur Rehman. The commission was supposed to submit the report in three days, however, Mir said it has so far been not made public.

He stated that the prime suspect whom he named before the commission and while talking to the media did not appear before the three judges. The suspect only sent a statement through the defence ministry.

He reiterated that it would be “very difficult” for the CJP.“

Last month, six out of the eight judges of the IHC wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Council. They accused the country’s intelligence apparatus of interference in judicial affairs, including attempts to pressure judges through abduction and torture of their relatives and secret surveillance inside their homes.

The letter, dated March 25, has been signed by Justices Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Saman Rafat Imtiaz of the IHC.

On April 3, CJP Isa while presiding over the proceedings said that any assault on the judiciary’s autonomy would be met with zero tolerance. He hinted also at convening a full court session to address a suo motu case.

Mir, who hosts Capital Talk on Geo News, was of the view that governments cannot operate on dictation for long.

‘Times have changed’

On the show, Mir shared that one of the judges who wrote the letter had ordered the registration of a first information report (FIR) on murder charges against him in 2017.

The journalist claimed that it was registered after he refused to stop the investigation into the attacks on the family of journalist Matiullah Jan.

He added that the-then IHC Chief Justice Shaukat Siddiqui tried that it does not happen with him, however, he “was helpless”.

Nawaz’s return

While speaking about former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, he said that the PML-N supremo did not receive the kind of support he was expecting.

“A politician’s biggest strength is public support,” he said and added that Nawaz was “disappointed” to see the kind of welcome and election campaign after his homecoming last year.

Saad Rafique’s warning

Mir claimed that PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique was not ready to contest the February 8 elections because of the delimitations and the “kind of future government”.

The former railways minister had informed the party leadership, Mir said. Rafique only contested elections after his brother forced him to do so.

“We won’t have any majority. We may have a government but not the majority,” the journalist quoted the PML-N leader as saying.

When asked, Mir said that the government would not fall.

The journalist clarified that he was not a friend of President Asif Ali Zardari. “I want to say that he is my friend. I am not his friend. I am trying to say that the friendship between a journalist and a politician is very difficult. Still, if you think he is my friend, the credit goes to him, not me.”

He went on to add that the polarization in Pakistan has reached a level where “if you don’t talk like me then you are a traitor.” He added that Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, and Imran Khan should sit together, however, they cannot.