ISLAMABAD: Following the unsettling incident where Supreme Court judges received letters containing a suspicious substance, five more judges of the apex court reportedly received similar “suspicious letters” on Friday.
The recent recipients of these letters include Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Justice Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Yahya Afridi, and Justice Ayesha Malik. Mirroring the previous incident involving Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and others, these envelopes also contained a suspicious powder.
This marks a total of 10 apex court judges who have received such letters. Earlier in the week, eight judges, including the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, reportedly received letters containing a substance believed to be ‘anthrax’.
Upon discovery of the suspicious substance, a team of experts from the Islamabad Police was deployed to the Islamabad High Court premises to assess the situation.
Meanwhile, in Lahore, the Punjab police’s Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) registered an FIR under anti-terrorism charges against unknown individuals for sending threatening letters to judges of the Lahore High Court. The FIR detailed the reception of ‘ordinary’ letters by the secretaries of the chief justice and three other judges, each containing white powder.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, chairing a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad, assured a thorough investigation into the matter of the suspicious letters received by judges. Stressing the importance of addressing the issue responsibly and without politicization, he referenced the previous inquiry commission formed after consultation with former Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani. Although Jillani later declined to lead the commission, the Supreme Court has now taken suo motu notice of the matter.
