The Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed on Friday a plea filed by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) seeking withdrawal of its petition seeking the judge’s recusal from a case pertaining to audio leaks.

Justice Babar Sattar conducted the hearing today in which assistant attorney general informed the court that the IB wants to withdraw its petition raising an objection over Justice Sattar in the bench.

Earlier this week, IHC Justice Sattar had dismissed applications of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the Pakistan Telecommunication Autho-rity (PTA) seeking his recusal from hearing the audio leaks case.

Besides dismissing the pleas, the IHC bench also imposed a Rs500,000 fine on each of them.

He also hinted at initiating contempt proceedings against the PEMRA, the FIA, and the PTA, and summoned the director general Intelligence Bureau (IB) on the next date.

Last week, PEMRA, PTA FIA and IB filed an application before the IHC on seeking Justice Sattar’s recusal from the audio leaks case.

In a petition, the authorities pleaded with Justice Sattar to distance himself from the case.

PEMRA maintained in the plea that the case remains pending despite its chairman appearing before the court multiple times.