ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to take back the summon notices previously issued to journalists who had criticized the judiciary.

The FIA had served notices to 65 individuals, including 47 journalists from both mainstream and social media, citing a ‘malicious anti-judiciary campaign.’ The SC’s three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa and including Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Musarrat Hilali, issued the orders.

During the hearing, representatives from the Journalists Association of Supreme Court were present, with Attorney General Mansoor Awan representing the government.

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Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa expressed concern about the potential damage to the country when the judiciary is mocked but emphasized that journalists should not face harassment or intimidation solely for criticizing.

He highlighted that filing cases against journalists for exercising their right to free speech is inappropriate. Consequently, the SC bench instructed the FIA to withdraw the notices served to the journalists.

It is noteworthy that the caretaker government had formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe into an alleged campaign against the judiciary. This campaign reportedly emerged following the Supreme Court’s verdict upholding the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision on December 22, which deprived the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of its symbolic ‘bat’ icon.