Islamabad High Court judge Justice Babar Sattar Tuesday again pointed out alleged interference by the security establishment in the judicial process, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
In a letter to Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Amir Farooq, Justice Sattar claimed that he was asked to back off from the audio leaks case.
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 surveillance method.
According to the letter, he (Justice Sattar) did not pay attention to such threatening messages and did not think that such messages would affect the justice system.
He claimed that the focus of malicious campaigns on cases related to PTA appeared to be an attempt to undermine judicial proceedings through malicious intentions.
Justice Sattar also pointed out in his letter to the CJ 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.
Justice Sattar further told Chief Justice that earlier this month, he had 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 had 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.
Justice Sattar further said in his letter that the case was 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.
He was also among the six judges who wrote a letter in March to the Supreme Judicial Council, seeking judicial action over the alleged interference of intelligence agencies in the judiciary.
Reporter: Ehtesham Kiyani