Claim: Islamabad High Court IHC) Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb filed a petition against the ISI chief in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Fact: No such petition has been filed in the Supreme Court. The IHC denied the statement in an official press release.
On 3 July 2024, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Fauzia Siddiqui claimed, in a now-deleted post on X, that “Islamabad High Court’s Senior Justice Mian Gul Aurangzeb filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the ISI Chief for intelligence agencies threatening the families of judges”.
There was no written document or evidence present in the tweet.
Background
On 25 March 2024, six IHC judges — out of a total strength of eight — wrote a startling letter to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) members, regarding attempts to pressure judges through abduction and torture of their relatives, as well as secret surveillance inside their homes. This letter was signed by judges Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Arbab Muhammad Tahir and Saman Rafat Imtiaz. In one case, the judges said they were forced to hear an appeal against former PM Imran Khan even after the majority of judges had decided it was not maintainable, according to The Guardian.
On 28 March 2024, Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a commission to investigate the concerns of interference in judicial affairs following the cabinet’s approval.
Later on 8 April 2024, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) filed a petition in the Supreme Court (SC) to probe the allegations made by the six IHC judges.
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate the claim, Soch Fact Check contacted court reporter Aamir Baloch from Public News, who confirmed that no such petition had been filed in the Supreme Court (SC). He also shared the press release by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) which denied the allegations made by the PTI MPA Fauzia Siddiqui.
The copy of the press release available with Soch Fact Check particularly denied the claims made by Fauzia Siddiqui on her X account, @fozisidd, and added that “the contents of the said tweet/posts are not true and the same are baseless”.
Another court reporter, Zeshan Syed from Neo News, also confirmed that the news circulating on social media is fake as no such petition has been filed.
Geo News also refuted the claim in a news bulletin, saying that Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb denied filing any petition against the ISI chief in the Supreme Court.
Virality
The false post was shared on X mainly by PTI supporters, and one post received 16,600 views, 3000 likes and 2000 reposts. The archived versions can be seen here, here and here.
On Facebook, it was shared here and here.
Conclusion: PTI MPA Fauzia Siddiqui claimed that IHC Justice Aurangzeb filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the ISI chief, is false. The IHC denied the MPA’s claim while terming it “baseless” in a recent press release.
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