The Supreme Court has stopped the Islamabad High Court from taking further action on the issue of audio leaks of former prime minister Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi and the son of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar.
According to details, the Supreme Court heard the audio leaks case on the request of the federal government, with Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan part of the bench. The court accepted the federal government's appeals for hearing and restrained the Islamabad High Court from further proceedings. The court issued notices to Bushra Bibi and former CJP Saqib Nisar’s son, Najamul Saqib.
The court suspended the orders of the Islamabad High Court on May 29 and June 25 and asked the IHC not to proceed with the case related to audio leaks. The SC declared that apparently the orders of Islamabad High Court on May 29 and June 25 were in excess of authority, as it did not have suo motu powers.
The Supreme Court has also called for the records of the audio leaks case.
During the hearing, Justice Aminuddin Khan asked if the High court determined who is recording the audio. The additional attorney general said this has not been determined yet, and the investigation is ongoing. Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan said unfortunately no one wants to reach the truth in this country.
Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan said an inquiry commission was formed to find out the truth and the Supreme Court issued a stay order on it. The audio leaks case has not been fixed again in the Supreme Court till today. When parliament tried to find out the truth, it was also stopped. “If neither parliament nor the Supreme Court will be allowed to work, how will the truth come out?” the judge asked.
Justice Aminuddin Khan said maybe those who are part of the conversation leaked the audio themselves. “Has this aspect been checked? Nowadays, every mobile has a recording system.”
It should be noted that the federal government had challenged the June 25 order of the Islamabad High Court in the Supreme Court on the issue of audio leaks of Bushra Bibi and Najam Saqib.
The federal government had adopted the stance in its application that summoning the heads of institutions and asking them for reports is equivalent to fact-finding. Najam Saqib's application was against the summons of the parliamentary committee, and that matter is over.
It further said the Islamabad High Court was proceeding beyond the points of the infructuous petition, adding that the court did not have the power to take suo motu notice.
It further stated in the petition that the single bench of Islamabad High Court gave a decision contrary to the facts, and one that had not even been sought. The Islamabad High Court exceeded its powers, over which the government requested the Supreme Court annul the IHC’s June 25 order.
Order of Islamabad High Court
Justice Babar Sattar had said in the order of June 25 that according to the law, any kind of surveillance of citizens is an illegal act. The prime minister and cabinet members are collectively and individually responsible for this mass surveillance.
He said that the court hopes that the prime minister will demand reports from all intelligence agencies and place the matter before the cabinet. The prime minister will be obliged to submit his report to the court in six weeks regarding the Lawful Management System. He must also tell against which law and Constitution the surveillance of citizens was going on.
The PM should tell who is responsible for the installation of the Lawful Interception Management System and mass surveillance, the judge had remarked.
According to the order, the prime minister was asked to tell who was in charge of the surveillance system that is affecting the privacy of the citizens. It also asked all telecom companies to submit their own reports on the Lawful Interception Management System by July 5. All telecom companies were asked to ensure that the Lawful Interception Management System did not have access to their systems, and they may continue to share their data with investigative agencies only to help investigate cases.
According to the Islamabad High Court, the PTA should tell where this surveillance system has been installed, who has access to this system. It also rejected the federal government's request for in-chamber hearing, however, the government was given the option to submit additional documents in a sealed envelope.
It ordered that a copy of the decision be sent to the prime minister, secretary of the Cabinet Division and PTA chairman for execution, and the case fixed for re-hearing on September 4.
Background of the audio leak case
On April 29, 2023, an alleged audio of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar's son Najam Saqib's conversation with Abuzar, who got a PTI ticket for PP-137 of the Punjab Assembly, had come to the fore, wherein he could be heard discussing the ticket he received.
Earlier on December 8, 2022, an audio was allegedly leaked purportedly of PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari and former prime minister Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi discussing the sale of watches owned by Imran Khan.
