ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday asked the government to inform it about the elements who record audios as it stopped the special parliamentary body from proceeding against former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar’s son.
Justice Babar Sattar heard the plea filed by Najam Saqib, son of ex-CJP Nisar, against a special committee formed by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to probe audio clips allegedly featuring his voice.
The National Assembly Secretariat appointed Aslam Bhootani as the chairman of the committee. Other members include Shahida Akhtar Ali, Sheikh Rohale Asghar, Syed Hussain Tariq, Muhammad Abu Bakr, Chaudhry Muhammad Barjees Tahir, Naz Baloch, Wajiha Qamar, Khalid Hussain Magsi and Dr. Muhammad Afzal Khan Dhandla. The committee was tasked to conduct a ‘comprehensive investigation’ and submit a report to the National Assembly secretariat. The committee was authorized to ask any investigative agency for assistance in its inquiry.
The formation of the special committee comes after an audio recording surfaced, purportedly of former chief justice Saqib Nisar’s son, discussing the distribution of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s election tickets for money surfaced on social media. The national assembly had also passed a motion demanding the formation of a special parliamentary committee to investigate the alleged audio leak.
The committee had sent notices to the parties so that they come and record their statement. “We want to get to the bottom of the matter regarding the use of money during elections. Democracy is weakened by this trend and not just any political party,” Bhootani pointed out.
Last month, PM Shehbaz Sharif had also accused ex-CJP Nisar of sabotaging development projects initiated by the previous PML-N government.
