IHC larger benches formed on smear campaign against Justice Kayani, Justice Sattar

ISLAMABAD: After the two senior judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) sought contempt proceedings against the smear campaign, two separate larger benches were formed on Wednesday to hear the matter.

The IHC judges — Justice Babar Sattar and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani — had written to IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, seeking contempt proceedings against those involved in the smear campaign on social media.

A larger bench led by IHC CJ Farooq and comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir will hear the matter of the social media campaign against Justice Kayani.

Another bench comprising Justice Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri and Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan will take the contempt of court case on social media drive against Justice Sattar.

Earlier, The News quoting sources reported that the high court had decided to convert the letter into a contempt of court case after assigning it a diary number.

A social media campaign was launched against Justice Sattar claiming that the high court judge holds American citizenship. However, the IHC in a press release on April 28 refuted the claims.

The high court said that Justice Sattar does not hold any other citizenship except for Pakistan. It added that a "defamatory and baseless" campaign was being run against Justice Sattar on social media.

“Justice Babar Sattar’s wife and children are citizens of Pakistan and the US. They were living in the US till 2021, but returned to Pakistan after Justice Babar Sattar was appointed as a judge of the IHC and now live in Islamabad.”

The IHC, in its press release, had said that Justice Sattar's confidential information is being posted and reposted online. It further said that the judge's wife and children's travel documents were also uploaded online.