ISLAMABAD: A new controversy has emerged after the interim order of Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was suspended by the division bench headed by the acting chief justice.
After the interim order was suspended, Justice Sattar summoned the judicial deputy registrar and the IT deputy registrar on May 7 despite the fact that the case file was with the division bench and the case was not scheduled for hearing.
The division bench, headed by acting chief justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfaraz Dogar, also suspended the eight-page order.The division bench comprising acting chief justice Dogar and Justice Mohammad Asif heard an intra-court appeal against the issuance of show-cause notices for contempt of court against the immigration & passports director general and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) director.
The acting chief justice expressed his resentment over Justice Sattar issuing another order despite the order being suspended during the hearing.
The lawyer appearing for the Directorate of Immigration & Passports said Justice Sattar had also issued an eight-page order after hearing the case.
The acting chief justice asked how a single judge can pass the order. “He doesn’t have a case. An article will be written on it, and the article will be read during the news on Geo TV at night.”
He said that the matter is pending with the division bench, adding that the contempt notice has been suspended, and the eight-page order is also being suspended.
Earlier, despite Justice Sattar’s instructions to the judicial deputy registrar on the administrative side, the case could not be scheduled for his bench.
Justice Sattar conducted the hearing despite the suspension of the order, and issued an eight-page written order. He asked that since the order to schedule the case on March 26 was not challenged before the division bench, how it can be suspended.
“The orders of March 12 and 26 were interim, and the final decision of the case is yet to come. The Supreme Court has clarified in several decisions that the chief justice has no authority to intervene on the administrative side in the case under trial.”
Justice Sattar asked in his order why action should not be taken against the deputy registrar for not scheduling the case for hearing despite the court’s instructions.
The court, while summoning the judicial deputy registrar and the IT deputy registrar in their personal capacity for the next hearing, said the IT deputy registrar should say on whose orders they removed the judicial orders from the website.
When the judicial deputy registrar was summoned, he submitted a note that the order had been suspended by the division bench.
The written order also said the judicial deputy registrar had prima facie violated the court order by not including the case in the cause list, and had not included the case in the supplementary cause list despite instructions from the administrative side.
The judicial deputy registrar justified that the case could not be fixed as per the direction of the division bench. “Apparently, the division bench was not properly assisted that this is an interim order.”
Referring to Section 3 of the Law Reforms Ordinance, 1972, Justice Sattar said in the order that an intra-court appeal can be filed only against the final decision of a single bench. “It is unthinkable to obstruct the proceedings of a constitutional court by calling for records or through any direction.”
The court, while fixing the case for hearing on May 7, said the registrar office should include the case in the cause list, and even if the case is not included in the cause list, the hearing will be held on May 7.
The court ordered that a copy of the order be sent to all the parties so that they ensure their attendance at the next hearing, and the order should be made part of the record so that it also comes into the knowledge of the division bench.
The court asked the judicial deputy registrar to appear in court in person at the next hearing and explain why action should not be taken against him for violating the court order.
The order said that if the division bench does not order the record to be sent to this court, the registrar should make a new record in the office file.
Justice Sattar had issued a show-cause notice to the immigration & passport DG and the NAB director for contempt of court. The division bench headed by the acting chief justice had suspended the order. During the hearing of the case before the division bench on Monday, the acting chief justice also suspended Justice Sattar’s new order.
