ISLAMABAD: A special parliamentary committee has decided not to share the record of the National Assembly (NA) and one of its committees with the apex court.
It also summoned four people, including ex-chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, his son Najam Saqib, and two politicians Abuzar Chadar and Mian Aziz in connection with the leaked audio clips’ probe.
In the committee meeting on Wednesday, its members agreed to hold the probe proceedings in-camera in view of the sensitivity of the issues under consideration.
Aslam Bhotani, the committee chairman, told reporters that it had been decided not to share the parliamentary record about the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023 with the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Committee seeks legal advice
He said that the committee had sought the legal advice of the law ministry in this regard and has made the decision in light of its advice.
An eight-judge bench of the supreme court on 2 May sought record of the parliamentary proceedings about the aforementioned act, a law that tries to reduce the CJP powers.
Taking up a few petitions filed against the act, the apex court on 13 April stopped the enforcement of the bill in what was described by some circles as a preemptive move.
However, despite the supreme court’s order, the bill became law on 22 April as the National Assembly Secretariat asked the Printing Corporation of Pakistan to publish it in the official gazette.
A couple of clips allegedly featuring the voice of Najam Saqib appeared on 29 April. In one of the audio clips, Najam told Chadar that his father, Saqib Nisar had worked hard to get Chadar a ticket of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
In the second clip, Najam allegedly tells the politician Mian Aziz how much money he expects in return for the ticket.
The National Assembly took notice of the leaked clips on 2 May and later formed a special committee to probe the issue.
