Tag: Babar Sattar

  • Faisal Vawda demands ‘evidence’ of interference in judicial matters

    Faisal Vawda demands ‘evidence’ of interference in judicial matters

    Independent Senator Faisal Vawda has criticised judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) for their letter accusing spy agencies of interfering in judicial matters, saying we should stop targeting institutions.

    “Stop targeting the institutions, enough is enough. If there is any interference by institutions, then provide evidence, and we will stand together [against it],” said the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader during a press conference. 

    Vawda’s remarks came after he filed an application to ask the IHC registrar about revealing the exchange of a letter between former IHC chief justice Athar Minallah and IHC’s Justice Babar Sattar regarding Justice Sattar’s green card.

    The senator wrote a letter, mentioning the social media campaigns against Justice Babar Sattar, accusing him of holding dual nationality and business interests in a private school in the country.

    “A press release was issued that said Justice Sattar is Pakistani, but I didn’t get a reply. CJP Qazi Faez Isa, under Article 19, ordered that every Pakistani can get an answer,” he said.

    The former PTI leader stated that judges should be transparent and away from accusations.

    Vawda stressed that the accusations made by the IHC judges kept mentioning the names of agencies repeatedly. “Give evidence, and we will stand beside you,” he added.

  • Imran Khan was against IHC Justice Babar Sattar’s appointment

    Imran Khan was against IHC Justice Babar Sattar’s appointment

    Nadeem Afzal Chan, former advisor to Imran Khan, stated in a talk show with Geo’s Shahzeb Khanzada that Imran Khan was against the appointment of Babar Sattar as a judge of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

     “Imran Khan said that he writes and speaks against us so we will not let him become a judge,” Chan narrated.

    Nadeem said he intervened by saying, “He’s [Justice Babar Sattar] a very fair person and people like him will be beneficial for us in hard times.”

    But the former Prime Minister did not agree with him and even told his party member Ali Muhammad Khan to speak against the judge in the parliamentary committee.

    Shahzeb Khanzada asked Nadeem that would he give the same advice to the current ruling government that they shouldn’t go against these judges. Nadeem replied, “Absolutely, we should appreciate those judges who are free and fair.”

  • Justice Babar Sattar says tweeting in a trend does not constitute a crime

    Justice Babar Sattar says tweeting in a trend does not constitute a crime

    Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed a case filed against a citizen for tweeting in a controversial trend on Twitter, reports Samaa.

    In his verdict, Justice Babar Sattar accepted the petition of a citizen against the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) over tweeting against state institutions.

    Justice Sattar observed in the judgement that “Tweeting in relation to any trend cannot itself attract criminal liability unless the words used in the tweet constitute as offensive under a penal statute.”

    The words in the tweet in question attracted no criminal liability, he ruled.

    Justice Sattar noted that the court cannot act unless there is something wrong in the words used by the person writing the tweet while the court held that the purpose of registering an FIR was to impose illegal censorship on the expression of a citizen.

  • Imran Khan to be indicted on Sept 22, response deemed ‘unsatisfactory’ by court

    Imran Khan to be indicted on Sept 22, response deemed ‘unsatisfactory’ by court

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday decided to indict Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on September 22 after he failed to submit an unconditional apology in contempt of court proceedings against him for passing controversial remarks against Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry.

    “Imran Khan’s response was unsatisfactory”. said IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, who is heading a five-member bench — comprising Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangir, and Justice Babar Sattar — that heard the case.

    Justice Athar Minal­lah observed that Khan’s replies to the court’s show-cause notice appeared to be “Justifying contempt of the judiciary” and showed “No remorse or regret”.

    Justice Minallah went on to ask why the judges of the lower courts were considered different to those of higher courts. “You are justifying contempt of court which means that you have no remorse or regret,” the judge observed.

    Expressing his disappointment in the response given by Khan to the court, which was the second of its kind, the court asked: “Even after the court’s input on the matter, this is the response submitted?”

    “It seems you want to fight this case […] and you have no realisation that the case against you is extremely seriously,” noted Justice Minallah.

    Declaring subordinate judiciary a ‘red line’, IHC CJ Minallah warned the PTI chairman that threatening a district judge is a more serious offence than a Supreme Court justice.

    Before appearing for the hearing, the PTI chairman told journalists that he would become “more dangerous” if the government decides to send him behind bars.

    “They have been trying to [put me in jail for long now]. I will be more dangerous if they send me to jail,” Khan said to media, confidently smiling ahead of the hearing.

    Hours before the proceeding, Khan filed a new plea at the high court. He argued that the high court cannot exercise suo moto jurisdiction as per the Constitution. The arguments on the inadmissibility of the contempt case should be kept on record.

    “The written arguments will also be explained in the oral arguments during the course of the proceedings,” read the plea.

    A day earlier to the proceedings, Khan submitted a fresh response to the contempt of court case, in which in he expressed deep regret for his words.

  • Are we obsessed with the The Minor case?

    Are we obsessed with the The Minor case?

    The Minor is a household name these days. A young girl, came into the limelight when a case of a missing minor girl was reported in Karachi. The missing or allegedly abducted girl was later found in Punjab where she had gotten married and was apparently living a happy life with her husband. This is where the case unravelled.

    The Minor happens to be underage and her marriage to her husband is not considered a legal one per law. A girl/boy getting married under the age of 18 years is considered to be illegal. Earlier this year, Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared any marriages under the age of 18 years unlawful even though each province has different legal age for marriage.

    The problem, in this case, is that no one is talking about the law here. The Minor is being dragged to the hospital every now and then to check her age through medical tests. Her parents come on television, record videos, and say how their daughter has been trapped. The Minor, on the other hand, keeps saying that she is happy and is not under any pressure. The court allowed her to decide who to stay with instead of keeping her in a government shelter until everything had been settled, under the law. Legal observers have raised another question including why a medical test, which is not accurate, is allowed when NADRA documents prove that she is a minor. Did the court not trust NADRA records and if not, why? These questions have so far not been answered.

    In this case, we have left the main issue, i.e. underage marriage behind and are only catering to the drama that is unfolding: the fact that she sat on a cushion during an interview or that she wore make-up. Why is no one talking about how important it is for parents to talk with their children? Why is no one talking about how this case will impact the minds of children whose television screens keep flashing The Minor and her husband, the crying mother, and sister of The Minor ? Why is no one talking about how traumatic all this is for girls and boys of this age? Why is no one talking about how two children — who are apparently underage — got married after meeting online? Why did the boy’s family agree when the girl was quite obviously a minor? Why is there silence around these issues?

    We hope that parents start to have open conversations with their children and create an environment where children can speak openly and a relationship of trust is built between them.