The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in the audio leak case involving Bushra Bibi, wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Najam Saqib, son of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar.
During a hearing today presided over by a two-judge bench comprising Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, the top court restrained the IHC from taking any further action in the audio leak case, saying the orders passed by it on May 29 and June 25 were beyond its jurisdiction.
On May 29, IHC Judge Babar Sattar banned telecommunication companies from recording telephone calls and data for surveillance purposes.
Judge Sattar had earlier dismissed several petitions from various authorities asking him to recuse himself from the case.
Last month, the IHC allowed mobile phone companies to share suspects’ data with police for crime investigations.
“The IHC’s orders dated May 29 and June 25 are beyond its jurisdiction,” the Supreme Court ruled today, adding that the court “has no power to issue notices on its own initiative”.
The Supreme Court issued summons to Bushra Bibi and Najam Saqib and, at the request of the federal government, also demanded documents related to the audio leaks case.
Justice Khan asked Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Munawar Iqbal Duggal whether the IHC had investigated who made the audio recording, to which he replied in the negative, saying the investigation was still underway.
“Unfortunately, no one in this country wants to find out the truth,” complained Judge Afghan.
He pointed out that a commission of inquiry had been set up to examine the credibility of the audio leaks, but the Supreme Court had to stay its decision on the instructions of the former Chief Justice.
“To date, no new date has been set by the Supreme Court for the audio leak case,” Justice Afghan noted.
“When Parliament tried to find out the truth, it was also blocked,” said Judge Afghan. “If neither Parliament nor the court is allowed to function, how will the truth come out?”
Judge Khan wondered whether it had been taken into account that those who were spoken to would be the ones who would distribute the tapes, since every mobile phone these days has a recording facility.
