The Supreme Court Wednesday directed NAB chief Fasih Bokhari to submit today (Thursday) authentic copy of a letter in which he had reportedly criticised the judiciary, particularly the apex court, and warned that the court would not allow anyone to interfere in judicial affairs.National Accountability Bureau chairman on January 28, 2013 wrote a letter to President Zardari.

He, in that letter which got leaked to the media, complained that SC was ‘unnecessarily’ pressing NAB officials in high profile cases, especially the rental power projects (RPPs) scam and threatened to resign if their ‘concerns’ about SC attitude would not be addressed.Expressing grave concern over the letter, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said, “On November 3, 2007 we had not allowed the Martial Law Administrator (MLA) to interfere in the affairs of the apex court... when we did not tolerate interference from a person in the uniform then how we can allow the NAB chairman to do so?”

The democracy in the country is due to the Supreme Court, the CJP stated while heading a three-member bench hearing a case in connection with non-implementation of its SC’s March 2012 judgment in the RPPs case. He said as long as the courts are working under the constitution, no pressure and interference would allowed and if they (government) wanted to get rid of the courts then they should abolish them.The chief justice inquired from NAB Prosecutor General KK Agha whether the bureau chairman had sent the reported letter. The PG replied in affirmative and said that the chairman has some reservations over the jurisdiction of the court.

The chief justice said, “We are working under the constitutional scheme. The case is pending before the court and the intention of writing such letter tantamount to obstruction in discharging our work in accordance with the constitution.”The chief justice added that the intention of the letter was to pressurise, criticise and bring hatred to the court. He further said they have announced the judgment in RPPs case in March 2012 and now wanted its implementation. The CJP said the court would examine the contents of the letter to determine the reasons that led Bokhari to draft it. The court then issued written orders to authorities to submit an authentic copy of the said letter and to also determine and inform the court as to how it was released to the media. The hearing was adjourned until Thursday.The NAB chairman’s letter states, “

The clear line between the recognised authority of the Supreme Court to monitor NAB investigations to the limited extent of ensuring fair investigation and itself becoming involved in guiding investigations, appears to be becoming breached as a norm as the elections near. Contempt notices and verbal orders that differ from written orders and insufficient time to prepare numerous progress reports are placing extreme pressure on NAB personnel who appear before the honourable judges, the NAB chief noted.He further said that “there is even a danger that NAB personnel could lose their independence and are unable to carry out their investigations in an independent manner due to the pressure being exerted on them by the honourable Supreme Court to proceed along lines which seem to be desired by the SC. In relieving this pressure, to safeguard their jobs, and so as not to displease the honourable court, there is danger of unfair investigation being resorted to.”