ISLAMABAD: Islama­bad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq would likely form a larger bench to initiate contempt proceedings on the social media campaign targeting Justice Babar Sattar.

The bench would take up the matter on Tuesday (today).

According to the sources, Justice Sattar had requested CJ Farooq for contempt proceedings after personal details of his and his family, including their US residence permits, were posted online.

Justice Sattar pointed out that the privacy of his family members was breached, and their identity cards and permanent residency card were uploaded to social media.

On Sunday, IHC’s public relations office issued a statement in response to the social media campaign, calling it “false, malicious and contemptuous”.

The press release stated that the judge was also accused of hiding assets in both Pakistan and the US.

“Justice Babar Sattar has never had any nationality other than that of Pakistan,” the IHC clarified, adding that while Justice Sattar worked as a lawyer in New York and was granted a green card, “he left his job in the US in 2005 and returned to Pakistan and has lived and worked in Pakistan since then”.

Justice Sattar is one of the six IHC judges who have complained of interference in judicial affairs by the country’s intelligence apparatus.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2024