Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Babar Sattar has issued preliminary contempt notices to the chiefs of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for seeking his recusal from hearing a case related to audio leaks.
While speaking at a program on Naya Daur TV, senior analyst Muzamal Suharwardy said that submitting a plea seeking recusal of a judge from the case is a right of the client and a common practice in courts, adding that no one knows why Justice Sattar wants to hear this case at any cost.
He said that earlier Justice Sattar imposed a Rs 5,00,000 fine each on the heads of IB, FIA, and PTA for submitting a plea seeking his recusal from the case.
Suharwardy said no judge has ever issued a contempt of court notice or imposed a fine over a plea seeking his recusal from the case. He added that if this is a pattern, the court should also impose a heavy fine on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, for seeking recusal of judges in cases against them.
The analyst said that Justice Sattar is targeting government officers and trying to protect the son of former chief justice Saqib Nisar’s son, who sold the PTI tickets.
He said that Justice Sattar has authority, but he should use his power with grace and responsibility. While giving an example, he said that the PTI was executing a malicious campaign against Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa through its official social media accounts, but the CJP has not issued any contempt of court notice to the party.
Suharwardy said that Justice Sattar has no courage to summon DGs ISI and MI, but he is giving tough time to the FIA, PTA, and IB.
While responding to a question about the resignation of PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat’s brother, the analyst said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government de-notified a special assistant to the chief minister for science, technology, and information technology, Khalid Latif Khan.
He said that Khalid claimed that he tendered his resignation a few days ago after the PTI appointed his elder brother PAC chairman, but the fact is that CM Gandapur has removed him from his cabinet.
Khalid, a younger brother of MNA Sher Afzal Khan Marwat, was appointed as an assistant to CM Ali Amin Gandapur in March 2024.
To another question, Suharwardy said that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) should have appointed some known politician as Punjab governor, adding that appointing Sardar Salim Haider as Punajb governor was a bad choice.
While talking about the government move to amend Article 175(a), the analyst said that the motive is to make the appointment of judges transparent. It is pertinent to mention here that the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) appoints judges in high courts and the Supreme Court.