ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Sunday rebutted a “malicious campaign” against Justice Babar Sattar on social media, after confidential information and documents belonging to the judge were leaked online.

An IHC public relations officer issued a press release, stating: “A false, malicious, and contemptuous social media campaign (malicious campaign) is being run against Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court.”

As part of the campaign, confidential information has been posted and reposted on social media, including travel documents of the judge, his wife, and children, accompanied by untruthful and malignant allegations, as well as details of his properties provided in his tax returns, the release said.

It further stated that Justice Babar Sattar has never held any nationality other than that of Pakistan. He studied law at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and pursued graduate education at Harvard Law School. He worked as a lawyer with a law firm in New York and, while living and working in the US, was issued the “Permanent Resident Card” (also called “Green Card”) after being regarded as a person of extraordinary ability. He left his job in the US in 2005 and returned to Pakistan, where he has lived and worked since then.

According to the US government’s Citizenship and Immigration Services, a Green Card allows individuals to live and work permanently in the US. However, they are still not considered citizens.

The US constitution grants certain rights exclusively to citizens, such as voting, bringing family members to the US, obtaining citizenship for children born abroad, travelling with US passport, becoming eligible for federal jobs and becoming an elected official.

In common parlance, a Green Card is considered a step towards naturalisation, but does not entail the award of citizenship or a US passport.

The IHC statement said that Justice Babar Sattar’s wife and children are citizens of both Pakistan and the US. They were living in the US until 2021, but returned to Pakistan after Justice Babar Sattar was appointed as a judge of the IHC and now reside in Islamabad. Prior to Justice Sattar’s elevation as a judge of the IHC, he had reported to the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court that he was a Pakistani national and had a Green Card that allowed him to travel to the US without a visa.

According to the press release, Justice Babar Sattar’s mother is an educationist who established a school in Rawalpindi in 1992 as its sole proprietor. Justice Babar Sattar has no ownership interest in it and is not involved with its management. Before being appointed a judge, his law firm acted as a legal adviser to the school and received a retainer fee for its legal services.

Justice Sattar owns real estate assets in both Pakis­tan and the US, which are listed in his tax returns that were scrutinised by the Judicial Com­m­ission of Pakistan prior to his elevation as a judge. All real estate assets that he owns are either inherited or were acquired while he was a lawyer. He has acqu­ired no real estate assets since his appointment as a judge. He is not involved with the management of any business entity. As a judge, he has not presided over any cases in which any of his family members has any interest, it said.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2024