The Peshawar High Court has formally informed the Supreme Court that it has received reports from several judges about being approached directly by intelligence agencies seeking favourable outcomes in political cases.
The disclosure was made public through the Twitter account of senior journalist Hasnat Malik, affiliated with Tribune Pakistan.
Further elaborating on the situation, journalist Zubair Ali Khan reported that the Peshawar High Court also highlighted that its judges faced assassination threats from non-state actors when they attempted to adjudicate cases impartially. These threats, according to Khan, originated from neighbouring Afghanistan.
Khan added that despite the Peshawar High Court notifying the Counter-Terrorism Department about these threats, there has been no significant progress in addressing them. He also noted that this grave issue has been escalated to all relevant high-level forums.
The revelations from the Peshawar High Court underline serious concerns regarding the undue influence exerted by intelligence agencies over the judiciary, especially in political cases.