A private bill was submitted to the National Assembly Secretariat on Tuesday seeking a ban on judges holding dual nationality, days after the Islamabad High Court slammed a ‘malicious’ social media campaign against Islamabad High Court Justice Babar Sattar.

JUI-F lawmaker Noor Alam Khan moved the bill, which sought amendments to articles 177 (appointment of Supreme Court judges), 193 (appointment of High Court judges), and 208 (officers and servants of courts) of the Constitution.

The text of the amendment bill emphasises the need to “ensure loyalty to the state from judges under the Constitution.”

The proposed law is aimed at “ensuring judges’ allegiance to Pakistan by barring those with dual citizenship from being appointed to the superior judiciary.”

It further alleged that judges holding dual nationality risk their actual country’s interest, citing that it was necessary to show judges loyalty to the Constitution.

It is worth noting that the issue of judges holding dual nationality recently gained attention when the Registrar’s Office of the Islamabad High Court responded to a letter from Senator Faisal Vawda, stating that having citizenship or residency in another country is not a disqualification for becoming a judge under the Constitution of Pakistan.

In April, the IHC clarified that Justice Sattar does not hold dual nationality, amid a ‘malicious’ social media campaign against him after a letter was written to the Supreme Judicial Council.

“Justice Babar Sattar has never had any nationality other than that of Pakistan,” said a press release from the Islamabad High Court.

The statement was issued after a social media campaign against the judge which the high court described as “false, malicious and contemptuous”.

As part of the campaign, the confidential information has been posted and reposted on social media, including travel documents of the judge, his wife and children, accompanied by “untruthful” allegations, and details of his properties provided in his tax returns.

The campaign started against the backdrop of a letter from six IHC judges to the five members of the Supreme Judicial Council. Justice Sattar was one of the judges who signed the letter.

In the March 25 letter, they demanded that a judicial convention be summoned over the alleged intelligence agencies’ interference in the judiciary.

Earlier this week, Justice Sattar again raised the alleged interference by the security establishment in the judicial process.

In a letter to IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Sattar claimed that he was asked to back off from the audio leaks case.