Green card controversy: Vawda asks IHC to disclose correspondence between Justices Sattar, Minallah

• Vawda highlights SC judgement regarding disclosure of information.
• He says information will "bury" malicious campaign for good.
• Social media campaign accuses Justice Sattar of being US national. 
  

ISLAMABAD: Senator Faisal Vawda on Tuesday filed a request to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) registrar calling for disclosure of the correspondence between SC Justice Athar Minallah and IHC's Justice Babar Sattar with regard to the latter's green card.

"In the interest of justice and maintaining the sanctity of constitutional courts [...] I seek from your good office the information/document through which this [correspondence between the two judges] was reported so that this controversy and malicious campaign is buried once and for all," Vawda wrote in his letter.

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

The development has even warranted a response from the IHC which, via a statement issued by a public relations officer, slammed the "malicious" campaign against the judge.

"Justice Sattar has never had any nationality other than that of Pakistan, the statement read adding that the judge's wife and children are citizens of Pakistan and the US.

They were living in the US till 2021, but returned to Pakistan after his appointment as IHC judge, the statement added.

The IHC PRO further clarified that Justice Sattar has bought no property since his appointment and all the properties held by him, whether in the US or Pakistan, were either inherited or bought while he was a lawyer and they were registered in the tax returns.

Quoting the SC judgment, wherein it was held that the constitutional courts are obliged to disclose the information under Article 19-A of the Constitution, Vawda said that Justice Sattar, prior to his elevation as an IHC judge, had communicated to the then IHC Chief Justice Minallah, that he was a Pakistani national and had a green card that allowed him to travel to the US without a visa.

It is pertinent to know that Justice Sattar is among the six IHC judges who had written to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) over alleged interference of members of the executive, including operatives of intelligence agencies, in judicial affairs.

He is also part of the bench hearing the audio leaks case and slapped a fine of Rs500,000 on Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday after throwing out their pleas seeking his recusal from the said case.