Supreme Court suspends IHC rulings in audio leaks case

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday stayed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) verdicts of May 29 and June 25 in the audio leak case.

The hearing was presided over by a two-person panel headed by Justice Aminuddin Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

The Supreme Court issued notices to Bushra Bibi, wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and Najam-ul-Haq, son of former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, while allowing the federal government's appeals against the Supreme Court's decisions.

During the proceedings, Justice Aminuddin Khan questioned whether the IHC had verified the authenticity of the audio recordings and ascertained who was responsible for recording the calls. The Deputy Attorney General replied that the investigation was still underway.

Judge Naeem Akhtar Afghan commented that there was a reluctance in the country to bring the truth to light, pointing out that the Supreme Court had previously stopped the work of the Commission of Inquiry.

The Court stressed the need to verify the authenticity of the audio recordings and questioned whether the IHC had taken this aspect into account.

The Deputy Attorney General informed the court that the IHC proceedings were not completed and that the Supreme Court had exceeded its jurisdiction under Article 199.

The Supreme Court was also informed that the IHC lacked the jurisdiction to conduct an investigation and that the case would be retried at a later date.

Earlier, the federal government had appealed to the Supreme Court against the IHC verdict regarding the alleged audio leak involving Bushra Bibi and the son of former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar.

The appeal involved the son of the former Chief Justice, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Ministry of Defence and other parties.

The government argued that the IHC's decision was based on incorrect facts and that the Supreme Court had awarded unsolicited compensation.

The suit further alleged that the IHC lacked the jurisdiction to issue a notification under Article 199 on its own initiative and that its decision must therefore be declared null and void.

The federal government also stressed that the Speaker of the National Assembly had convened a committee of inquiry when the alleged audio leak related to the ticket distribution emerged.

The son of the former Chief Justice had challenged the committee's summons before the IHC.

The government alleged that the IHC's request for reports from the institutions exceeded its powers and that the Supreme Court was unable to conduct fact-finding investigations.

The IHC had previously ruled that any form of surveillance of citizens was illegal and unconstitutional and ordered Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to investigate those responsible for the mass surveillance.

IHC Judge Babar Sattar, in a written order, held the federal government responsible for the surveillance of four million citizens and said that Prime Minister Shehbaz and his cabinet members were “collectively and individually” responsible for it.

The IHC asked the Prime Minister to submit a report within six weeks on the legal framework of the surveillance system, stating whether the surveillance was lawful and constitutional.

The IHC also asked the Prime Minister to explain who was responsible for installing and operating the surveillance system that compromised citizens' privacy.

In addition, the IHC issued a contempt of court notice to the PTA Chairman and its members, asking them to respond within six weeks. It noted that the PTA appeared to have misinterpreted the monitoring system in its report.