SC to probe exclusive footage of Full Court reference
ISLAMABAD: Soon after taking oath of office, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Tassaduq Hussain Jillani on Thursday ordered an inquiry into the exclusive footage of the proceedings of the Full Court reference held in the honour of former CJP Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on the eve of his retirement and directed the apex court’s additional registrar to investigate the matter.
The CJP took notice on a note of registrar Supreme Court stating that it was widely reported in the electronic and print media that a certain media group had been given access to the Court Room No1 to have an exclusive footage of the proceedings of the Full Court Reference on December 11.
It was alleged that the Supreme Court administration had been discriminatory in its treatment of journalists byfavouring one media group against others. In protest, journalists covering the Supreme Court announced their boycott of the subsequent functions held at the court.
The report portrays somewhat negative perspective of the Supreme Court though it strictly follows the policy of absolute neutrality and impartiality.
The registrar requested the chief justice to order a detailed inquiry into the alleged incident through a senior officer of the court so as to determine the authenticity or otherwise of the allegation and take action against the delinquent(s), if found guilty.After going through the contents of the note, the CJP directed the additional registrar to hold an enquiry and submit a report.
The News