Justice Babar imposed heavy fines on FIA, PEMRA, & PTA in audio leaks case

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Justice Babar Sattar imposed heavy fines of 5 lakhs for each of the three govt departments, including FIA, PTA, and PEMRA.

FIA (Federal Investigation Agency and PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority)are some of the major government departments in Pakistan. PTA (Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) also comes along with them.

Islamabad High Court dismisses objection petitions from #PEMRA, #FIA, and #PTA in Justice Babar Sattar audio leaks case; imposes fines of 5 lakh rupees each. #SamaaTV pic.twitter.com/yS8gJsh6v0
— SAMAA TV (@SAMAATV) April 29, 2024

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Justice Babar also dismissed their petitions asking him to withdraw from court hearings in the audio leaks case. IHC also remarked that all three government departments could face contempt of court.

It came when IHC heard petitions from three government departments demanding Justice Babar’s withdrawal from the audio leaks case. It is significant to note that Justice Babar Sattar had been hearing petitions of audio leaks case of Bushra Bibi and Najamul Saqib.

Bushra Bibi is the wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. However, Najamul Saqib is the son of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar. The audio leaks case refers to an alleged audio leak where Najamul appeared to seek a bribe for a PTI ticket to a PTI candidate.

Another audio leak was related to an alleged conversation between Bushra Bibi and PTI leader Zulfikar Bukhari about the state gift’s sale. Both Najamul and Bushra filed petitions against the parliamentary committee investigating these audio leaks.

The government established a parliamentary committee to investigate both these audio leaks. Meanwhile, Bushra and Najamul claimed the government is targeting them by framing them in fake audio leaks.

However, the three departments had earlier filed separate petitions along with the Intelligence Bureau’s Joint Director to IHC. General Tariq Mehmood is the joint director of the Intelligence Bureau. They asked IHC to conduct an audio leaks case hearing before the same court bench that has previously resolved a related case.

They emphasized in their petitions that Justice Moin Akhtar Kayani had already decided on a similar issue in 2021. Hence, they asked Justice Babar Sattar to withdraw himself from the case to prevent a conflicting ruling and uphold justice.

Hence, Justice Babar Sattar not only imposed heavy fines on FIA, PEMRA, and PTA. However, he also dismissed their petitions seeking his withdrawal from the audio leaks case.