ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan will resume today hearing the pleas filed against the formation of Justice Isa-led judicial inquiry commission probing into the audio leaks allegedly involving some current and former members of the superior judiciary and their family members.
A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Shahid Waheed and Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi will take up the pleas at 12:15pm.
Govt challenges SC bench
In a later development, the federal government objected to the larger bench of the apex court hearing the petitions against the audio leaks commission. The government has submitted a miscellaneous application in the petitions already challenging the audio leaks commission. In the pleas, it has been stated that three judges, including the chief justice of Pakistan, should not hear the case.
During the last hearing, the Supreme Court while barring the audio leaks commission from work, issued a stay order and adjourned the hearing till May 31. The top court while issuing the order for today’s hearing, suspended the notification of the establishment of the commission and the order of the panel summoning four persons including Abed Zubairi to appear before it on May 22.
On May 20, the federal government had constituted a three-member judicial commission to investigate the audio leaks related to the judges. The commission comprised Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
The notification issued by the Cabinet Division said controversial audio leaks featuring a former chief justice of Pakistan are floating in the media. The conversation about judges raised serious concerns about their impartiality. The audios of chief justices or judges of high courts have damaged public confidence, it further stated.
Petitions
On May 22, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) challenged in the Supreme Court the judicial commission formed to probe into the audio leaks. A constitutional petition was filed in the Supreme Court. The petition pleaded that the notification of the formation of the judicial commission should be declared null and void.
