IHC serves contempt notices on heads of IB, FIA and PTA

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued contempt notices to the Director General of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for filing petitions seeking the denial of judge Babar Sattar from the audio leak case, ARY News reported on Saturday.

In a 40-page order on petitions seeking the disqualification of Justice Babar Sattar, the Supreme Court said the pleas were filed with malafide intentions and imposed a fine of Rs0.5 million on IB, FIA and PTA.

While dismissing the petitions, the court also ordered the authorities who had authorized the filing of the petitions to pay the fine.

The IHC noted in its order that the chiefs had been informed as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them.

It noted that the four institutions had filed petitions under a single scheme, in an attempt to intimidate and pressure the judges.

“The court affords the parties involved in the wiretapping case an opportunity to present their arguments,” the order said, noting that the government has been found to have failed to protect the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution are defined.

The development came as the IHC was hearing a case related to the petitions filed last year by PTI founder Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and former top judge Mian Saqib Nisar’s son Najam Saqib against the alleged audio leaks.

Saqib had challenged a parliamentary committee’s probe into his alleged audio in which he allegedly asked for a bribe, while Bushra Bibi had challenged an FIA probe over her alleged conversation with Zulfi Bukhari, a former aide to then Prime Minister Imran , for selling Toshakhana gifts .

Read more: IHC rejects baseless campaign against Judge Babar Sattar

In May last year, Judge Sattar had asked the intelligence agencies and the PTA to trace the source of the audio leak, while Pemra was told not to broadcast the unauthorized and leaked conversations of citizens.

IB and ISI reports state that phone calls can be tapped through mobile apps and viruses, and intelligence agencies are unable to trace the source. The ISI report said it could not trace the source of the leaks due to encryption.

Justice Sattar advised the Assistant Attorney General to file submissions along with the response to the judicial notice to the IB.

Earlier this week, respondents in the audio leak case, including IB, the Federal Investigation Agency, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, had filed applications seeking Justice Sattar’s disqualification.