No bar on dual-national to become a judge, IHC tells Vawda

The registrar of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has said there is no restriction in the constitution on a person, holding dual nationality or a residence permit, from becoming a judge, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday.

In his reply to ex-PTI leader and Senator Faisal Vawda’s letter, the registrar has told him that the matter of the IHC judge Justice Babar Sattar possessing a Green Card came under discussion at the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) meeting. “And it was only when the council gave its approval that Sattar was appointed as the IHC judge,” the registrar has said.

It has also been conveyed to Vawda that no lawyer, applying to become a high court judge, is asked whether he has a dual nationality. “Justice Athar Minallah of the Supreme Court (SC) has already made this point clear during the hearing of the case of ‘threatening’ letter written by six judges of the IHC of which the apex court had taken suo motu notice,” he has said, adding, “Justice Minallah said that the matter of Justice Sattar holding a Green Card was discussed at the SJC meeting and it was only after the council members’ nod that Sattar went on to become the IHC judge.”  

“This court does not have the record of what council members discussed at their meeting,” the IHC registrar has said.

Furthermore, Justice Sattar had informed the IHC Chief Justice that he possessed a Green Card.

Vawda, while addressing a press conference yesterday, had criticized the Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges for their letter accusing the intelligence agencies of meddling in judicial affairs.

Vawda's comments come after he filed a request with the IHC registrar calling for disclosure of the correspondence between the then IHC chief justice Athar Minallah and IHC's Justice Babar Sattar about the latter's green card.

The senator's letter referred to the social media campaign against Justice Sattar accusing him of holding a US nationality and having a business interest at a private school in the country. 

Vawda said that he wrote a letter to the IHC in April but he had not received a reply as yet. "We should get that record as it has been 15 days," he said, adding "A press release was issued that said Justice Sattar was a Pakistani but I didn't get a reply. CJP Qazi Faez Isa, under Article 19, had ordered that every Pakistani can get an answer," he said. 

He said that not getting an answer is making the matter suspicious, adding that the judges should be transparent and away from accusations. 

Vawda also demanded that the Supreme Judicial Council would have to interfere in this matter.

Reporter: Ihtesham Kiani