SC takes suo motu notice of Vawda’s presser

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has taken suo motu notice of independent Senator Faisal Vawda’s hard-hitting press conference against Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges, sources told Geo News on Thursday. Vawda on Wednesday blasted the IHC judges over their letter alleging meddling by spy agencies in judicial affairs, saying that targeting of institutions should stop. “Stop targeting the institutions, enough is enough. If there is any interference by institutions, then provide evidence and we will stand together [against it],” the former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader had said during the presser.

Vawda, while speaking about the accusations by the IHC judges, reiterated that the names of agencies were being mentioned again and again. “Ban the social media. Do it for the whole of Pakistan and not for yourself. Make laws for social media but make them for everyone,” said the senator.

Sources privy to the development said a bench led by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa will hear the suo motu notice tomorrow (Friday). Justice Irfan Sadaat and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afgan are also part of the bench, they added.

The Supreme Court’s suo moto came hours after the IHC responded to Senator Vawda’s letter saying: “The information sought by the high court from lawyers being considered for elevation/appointment as a judge does not include information regarding residency and/or citizenship of any country other than Pakistan.”

The IHC registrar wrote the letter to Vawda on behalf of IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, maintaining that such residency/citizenship is not a disqualification for a judge under the country’s Constitution.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) also responded to the senator’s letter to the court’s registrar seeking disclosure of the correspondence between then-IHC chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Babar Sattar about the latter’s green card.

The politician’s letter, sent to the IHC on April 30, referred to the social media campaign against Justice Sattar accusing him of holding the nationality of the United States and having a business interest in a private school in the country. Vawda said that he wrote a letter to the IHC in April but he hasn’t received a reply yet. “We should get that record as it has been 15 days,” he stressed. “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 IHC letter mentioned: “The conversations between potential candidates for appointment as judges or/an interview with the Hon’ble Chief Justice and/or Senior Puisne Judge of the High Court is not a communication of which record is maintained and minutes taken.”

It added that Justice Athar Minallah was IHC chief justice at the time of Justice Babar Sattar’s appointment as the judge and had disclosed the aforementioned matter during the hearing of the suo motu proceedings in relation to the letter of six IHC judges, which were live-streamed.

Justice Minallah clarified that Justice Sattar’s possession of a Green Card was discussed during the Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s meeting, where his name was recommended for approval. The IHC judge has also declared his possession of the said residency card. “This Court does not maintain a record of the discussion that transpires in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan. Even there is no requirement to refer Article 19-A of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, which could only be referred when there was any privileged information available to the institutions,” the letter maintained.