By Special Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday challenged the constitution of the Justice Isa-led judicial commission by the government to investigate the audio leaks soon after the commission held its first meeting at the Supreme Court building.
Advocate Dr. Babar Awan filed a petition in the top court in this regard on behalf of the chairman PTI. The judicial commission constituted under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 2016 to probe the veracity of the audio leaks has commenced its job by meeting at the Supreme Court building. The commission decided to make its proceedings public as it formally commenced its proceedings. It said if a sensitive matter comes up, it can hold in-camera proceedings. The proceedings of the commission were held in the Supreme Court building. The next meeting of the commission will be held on Saturday.
Justice Isa said the people about whom the inquiry has to be conducted include two elderly women. If the commission receives an application, it can pay a visit to Lahore also, he added. He said the commission will issue a mobile number to be made public to invite people for information regarding the probe. It also asked the federal government to issue an email address.
Justice Isa noted that the commission can also ask the public through advertisements to provide information. The informant will have to disclose his identity. Information coming from unknown sources will not be acceptable, the commission noted. It also sought all the audio recordings from the government.
The commission has also instructed the government to provide transcripts of all audio leaks, signed by an officer by Wednesday. If there is a mistake in the transcript, there will be action against the officer responsible, it added. The names, designations and contact numbers of those who feature in the audio leaks should also be provided, the commission directed. Justice Isa also clarified the jurisdiction of the inquiry commission, saying it is not the Supreme Judicial Council.
The senior SC judge also stressed that the inquiry commission is not taking and will not take any action against any judge. It has only been formed to determine facts. There will be no interference in the jurisdiction of the Supreme Judicial Council, Justice Isa noted adding the commission has the authority to summon those who do not cooperate. The commission will only issue notices while the commission will try that no summons are issued to anyone, he further stated adding the government officials already have no room for refusing to cooperate.
Attorney General for Pakistan Usman Mansoor Awan appeared before the commission, signaling the gravity of the matter. The AGP has been directed to issue notices to all the people concerned and ensure their compliance. The commission has also directed to ensure arrangements for playing the audio leaks during its proceedings.
The AGP has also been asked to determine an agency for verifying the authenticity of the audio clips. Justice Isa suggested contacting the Punjab Forensics Science Agency for the purpose. It has to be verified beforehand if someone says the voice in the audio does not belong to them or is tampered with. One member of the forensics agency must be present during the commission’s proceedings so that if someone refuses to accept their voice, it could be verified immediately, Justice Isa suggested.
The government had, on Saturday, constituted a judicial commission comprising three senior judges tasked with probing the veracity of recent audio leaks and “their impact on the independence of judiciary”.
According to the notification issued by the government, the commission is being led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court (SC), and also comprises Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Balochistan High Court (BHC) Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan. Following the notification, the government instructed the commission to promptly commence an inquiry and conclude the investigation within 30 days. “However, if the commission requires further time, the federal government shall grant it,” the notification added.
The series of audio leaks first began in 2022 when private conversations featuring key government and opposition figures including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PTI Chairman Imran Khan, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, and others surfaced on social media.
However, the commission formed has been tasked with probing only the recent round of audio leaks that began in 2023 and either pertain to the judiciary or involve sitting or former judges.
In February, audios allegedly involving a sitting judge of the apex court were leaked, leading to demands from the legal community for a probe and appropriate measures if the leaks were verified.
The leaked audios claimed containing conversation between the judge and prominent politicians as well as specific lawyers. The audios quickly went viral on social media and mainstream media platforms.
Two audios linked to former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar were leaked. One audio implicated his son, as the former top judge questioned the authenticity of the other audio, which allegedly featured a conversation between him and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Isnaf’s legal adviser Khawaja Tariq Rahim.
The government notification stated, “The society’s confidence is deeply affected when the independence of the judiciary is tarnished as it plays a pivotal role in upholding the rule of law and ensuring justice for all.” Under the terms of reference in the notification, the government mentioned each of the aforementioned audio leaks.
The commission is entrusted with the responsibility of investigating whether any violations have occurred in relation to “the administration of justice, the independence of the judiciary, the right to a fair trial, and the equality of citizens”.
Meanwhile, PTI Chairman Imran Khan had pointed out ‘flaws’ in the Terms of Reference (ToR) of the judicial commission, constituted by the government to investigate the audio leaks. “The federal government has formed an inquiry commission under Section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 2017 to investigate the issue of audio leaks,” the former premier wrote on Twitter. However, Imran Khan said, that the ToRs formed by the federal government suffer from a deliberate omission.
“They fail to take into account the issue that who is behind unlawful and unconstitutional surveillance of PM office and sitting judges of the Supreme Court.” The commission, he wrote, should be empowered to investigate who are these powerful and unknown elements who tap and record telephone conversations of citizens including high public functionaries. “This is serious breach of privacy guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution,” he added.
“Not only those who illegally retrieve data through unlawful phone tapping and surveillance should be held accountable but those who through fabrication and tampering of different phone calls leak them on social media also need to be held accountable.”
“Right to privacy and dignity guaranteed under Article 14 are patently infringed whenever the state unlawfully surveils an individual,” he wrote. He said some of the recent leaked calls were made over what was supposed to be a secure phone line in the Prime Minister’s Office.
“Who are these actors who are above the law and outside the command of even the prime minister of the country, and who resort to such illegal surveillance with impunity? Such elements need to be held identified by the Commission,” he concluded.
