By Sara Ali Syed
Pakistan’s judiciary, once a fragile but essential pillar of democracy, is now facing institutional breakdown. Judicial independence has steadily eroded under executive dominance, constitutional boundaries have blurred, and political manipulation has penetrated the courts. What was once whispered is now openly acknowledged: the justice system has been weaponized.
Earlier this year, six judges of the Islamabad High Court took the unprecedented step of writing to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, alleging surveillance, harassment, and intimidation; including threats to family members; aimed at influencing judicial outcomes in politically sensitive cases. Their letter confirmed systematic coercion within the judiciary. Subsequent warnings by sitting judges reinforced the reality that fear, not law, increasingly shapes verdicts.
This institutional decay has reached the Supreme Court itself. In October 2024, two senior justices formally questioned the constitutional legitimacy of the Supreme Judicial Council and recent amendments to the Judges’ Code of Conduct. They warned that unconstitutional interference by judicial policy bodies, unresolved conflicts of interest, and lack of clarity over constitutional authority now threaten the validity of future judicial proceedings.
Pakistan’s history offers a grim precedent. Former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s execution in 1979 was acknowledged as unjust only 44 years later, when the Supreme Court conceded that his trial failed to meet fair-trial standards. Such delayed admissions highlight a recurring pattern: justice denied until it is politically safe to admit error.
Since May 9, 2023, the judiciary’s transformation into an instrument of political persecution has accelerated. The relentless targeting of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has exposed the depth of judicial capture. Thousands of cases, coerced testimonies, and arbitrary convictions reflect a system operating under executive pressure rather than constitutional command.
Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi remain in harsh detention conditions, facing solitary confinement, denial of medical care, and constant surveillance. These conditions have been condemned by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which declared Khan’s detention illegal and politically motivated. Amnesty International and other international bodies have echoed these concerns.
Structurally, judicial independence has been further undermined by constitutional amendments and administrative controls. Senior judges are sidelined, case rosters manipulated, and judicial appointments made through opaque processes. New rules have been imposed without full-court approval, while judges are now reportedly required to obtain clearance for foreign travel—an alarming encroachment on judicial autonomy.
Efforts to suppress accountability extend beyond Pakistan’s borders. International observer reports on the February 2024 elections, including the Commonwealth Observer Group’s findings, were delayed for months and only surfaced after investigative leaks. Similar assessments by UK and EU missions remain unpublished, reflecting a troubling global reluctance to confront democratic erosion in a strategic state.
When judges fear power instead of restraining it, justice ceases to exist. Pakistan’s judiciary has not merely weakened; it has been captured. If the legal community, civil society, and international partners remain silent, this collapse will not only destroy judicial credibility; it will extinguish accountability in a country of 240 million people.
The moment to act is now, before justice in Pakistan becomes a memory rather than a safeguard.
The writer, advocate High Court, Sara Ali Syed is Central Information Secretary, South Punjab Region, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf & Co-Organizer Election Analysis & Management Cell South Punjab PTI.
She can be reached at Sasyed@bsol.pk.org
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