Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) Justice Babar Sattar on Monday dismissed pleas filed by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) seeking his recusal from a case pertaining to audio leaks.
The development came as the court heard 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.
Saqib had challenged the inquiry of a parliamentary committee on his alleged audio in which he purportedly sought a bribe while Bushra Bibi had challenged a FIA inquiry based on her alleged conversation with Zulfi Bukhari, a former aide to then-PM Imran, for selling Toshakhana gifts.
In May last year, Justice Sattar had asked the intelligence agencies and PTA to trace the source of the audio leak while Pemra was told not to broadcast the unauthorised and leaked conversation of citizens.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had also submitted its report on the case, saying that it “does not interfere” with the domain of intelligence agencies, “keeps an arm’s length relationship” and expects them “to work under the Constitution and law of the land in the public interest”.
In a subsequent hearing, the PTA had informed the IHC that it did not have the capacity or capability to identify the person who leaked audio recordings on social media.
In December, Bushra Bibi had filed a separate petition against a leaked audio conversation between her and her lawyer Latif Khosa, who had confirmed the authenticity of the audio. The IHC then sought reports from the ISI director general, FIA, Pemra and others on the matter while ordering the PTA to conduct an inquiry.
In the next hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan informed the IHC that the government had not permitted any intelligence agency to tap audio conversations.
Last week, Pemra had requested Justice Sattar to recuse himself from hearing the case, contending that another bench that had already dealt with an identical matter may proceed on the petitions in hand. Similar petitions were also filed by the PTA, FIA and the Intelligence Bureau (IB).
A day ago, the IHC said that a “malicious campaign” was being run against Justice Sattar on social media. It should be mentioned that he is one of the six IHC judges who last month alleged interference in judicial affairs by the country’s intelligence apparatus.
Today’s hearing
Today, AGP Awan appeared before the court while senior counsel Aitzaz Ahsan was present for the court’s legal assistance.
Justice Sattar 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.
Meanwhile, IB Joint Director Tariq Mehmood was summoned at the next hearing, the date for which is yet to be announced.
During the hearing, Justice Sattar questioned the connection between the ISI and the FIA when Additional Attorney General (AAG) Munawar Iqbal Duggal mentioned the letter penned by six IHC judges on alleged meddling in judicial affairs by the intelligence apparatus.
Justice Sattar was among the six judges who had written the letter.
“What connection does an ISI matter have with the FIA? How is this letter related to the FIA?” the judge asked.
Asking if the letter was related to intelligence agencies, he directed the AAG to read the relevant excerpts of the letter.
“The part that you read, is this related to the ISI and not the FIA?” he asked AAG Duggal, to which the latter replied in the affirmative.
More to follow