The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday reserved its judgment on a petition of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) president seeking formation of an inquiry commission to probe the alleged audiotape of former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar.
Hearing the case, Chief Justice Athar Minallah asked the petitioner, Salahuddin Advocate, about the original copy of the audiotape. He remarked that no forensic firm in the world could give a clear opinion without availability of the original audiotape. The court said the appeals related to the matter were already pending with the IHC.
The appellants could also take such ground, it said, adding that one matter couldn’t be heard twice at the same time. The petitioner said the questions concerning the audiotape would remain in the public mind even if the accused were acquitted. He requested the court to summon journalist Ahmed Noorani for provision of original audiotape. He said the reality of conversation could be known only after investigation of the audiotape. Representative of Pakistan Bar Council Hassan Raza Pasha Advocate also appeared before the court and said legal fraternity had concerns about the allegations against the judiciary. The chief justice observed that the audiotape was available only on the internet. “Should the court order to probe all the allegations which were available only on the internet?” he asked. Attorney General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan adopted the stance that dual stances were being adopted before the court. A narrative was being built against the whole judiciary on basis of an unauthentic audiotape, he said. He asked what was the difference between the petition and Rana Shamim’s allegations. “All the points raised in the petition are related to the pending appeals, he said and requested the court not to take action if there were a little chance of its impact on the pending appeals. People are not becoming part of Rana Shamim’s case and pending appeals,” he said.
The AGP prayed the court to dismiss the petition. He said if any investigation was required, then the Pakistan Bar Council should have filed a case itself.
He also gave the reference of a local TV channel’s report which stated that how the audiotape was fabricated and from where its parts were collected.
The statement of petition regarding the unavailability of original audiotape was enough to dismiss it, he said.
Responding to the AGP’s arguments, Chief Justice Athar Minallah remarked that his arguments were alarming. The AGP asked the court how would it maintain a balance in the case considering that one party claims the audio clip is real while the other denies it, opining that it will be difficult for the court to do so.
“Even if a commission is formed, can there be any guarantee that the pending appeal will not be affected?” Khan stated, adding that another reason for the plea to be dismissed was that the petitioner claims he does not possess the original audio. “[Journalist] Ahmed Noorani claims the audio clip is authentic on the basis of a forensic analysis while a TV channel showed how the clip appears to have been edited in places [also on the basis of a forensic analysis],” the AGP said. After listening to arguments from both sides, the court reserved its judgment.
