Islamabad High Court judge Justice Babar Sattar has 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.
Earlier this month, Justice Sattar dismissed a plea filed by the Intelligence Bureau in which it sought to withdraw its petition seeking the judge’s recusal from a case pertaining to audio leaks. In April, he imposed fines worth Rs500,000 each on the FIA, PTA and Pemra while dismissing their pleas seeking his recusal. He also hinted at initiating contempt proceedings against the bodies.
The case is in connection with the petitions filed last year by ex-premier Imran Khan’s spouse Bushra Bibi and Najam Saqib, son of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, against alleged audio leaks.
Justice Sattar alleged that he received a message from a top official in the security establishment to leave the case. The IHC judge added that he was asked to back off from the scrutiny of the way of surveillance.
He was also among the six judges who wrote a letter in March to the Supreme Judicial Council in March, seeking a judicial convention over the alleged interference of intelligence agencies in the judiciary.
“We believe that individual judges must not be required to be as brave as Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the chief justice of Pakistan, to fight persecution at the hands of the executive on their own, or as resolute as Justice Siddiqui, to continue to fight a wrong for personal vindication long after removal from office,” said the 12-page letter addressed to the five members of the Supreme Judicial Council.
According to Tuesday’s letter, he did not pay any attention to such threatening letters and did not think that such messages would affect the justice system.
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He was of the view that the focus of malicious campaigns on cases related to PTA appeared to be an attempt to undermine judicial proceedings through malicious intentions.
It added that the court issued notices to intelligence and investigative agencies, including the Inter-Services Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau, and Federal Investigation Agency, in the audio leaks case.
The court had also issued notices to regulatory bodies, PTI, and PEMRA.
