IHC condemns ‘malicious’ social media campaign against Justice Babar Sattar
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Sunday said that a “malicious campaign” was being run against Justice Babar Sattar on social media, as part of which confidential information and documents belonging to the judge were leaked online.
Justice Sattar is one of the six IHC judges who have complained of interference in judicial affairs by the country’s intelligence apparatus.
Earlier this week, a full court meeting of the IHC decided to introduce several measures, including the reactivation of ‘empowered’ inspection teams, to end the alleged meddling.
In order to make the court immune from undue influence, the full court decided to reactivate its inspection teams and empower inspection judges to enable them to address the complaints of judicial officers of the subordinate judiciary against any interference and pressure, sources told Dawn.
The IHC also issued a press release today, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, in which it stated that those behind the campaign against Justice Sattar not only leaked the travel documents of Sattar, his wife and his children but also accused him of hiding assets in both Pakistan and the US.
“As part of the malicious campaign, the confidential information has been posted and reposted on social media, including travel documents of the Hon’ble Judge, his wife and children,” the press release said.
“Justice Babar Sattar has never had any nationality other than that of Pakistan,” the IHC clarified, adding that while Sattar worked as a lawyer in New York and was granted a green card, “he left his job in the US in 2005 and returned to Pakistan and has lived and worked in Pakistan since then.”
The campaign also leaked details about properties declared in the judge’s tax returns, “accompanied by unlawful and malignant allegations”, the press release stated.
The court noted that Justice Sattar’s assets in Pakistan and the US were thoroughly scrutinised by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan before his appointment as a judge.
“All real estate assets that he owns are either inherited or were acquired while he was a lawyer. He has acquired no real estate assets since his appointment as a judge,” the statement reads.
The court added that Sattar is not involved in the “management of any business entity”, nor has he presided over cases in which his family members have interests.