The Ministry of Defence on Monday informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that it had no role in recording citizens’ phone calls or engaging in any related activities in a case related to audio leaks.
However, the court deemed the responses from the Ministry of Interior and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as “unsatisfactory” and requested a more detailed response.
This development occurred during the hearing of a petition filed by Najam Ali Saqib, the son of former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar, who had raised concerns about a special committee of the National Assembly investigating his alleged audio leaks.
Justice Babar Sattar, who presided over the bench, commented that the responses suggest that no one has the capability to record phone conversations.
“The federal government must provide answers to the court’s queries, or sensitive institutions will be directly summoned,” he added.
Expressing dissatisfaction, Justice Sattar noted that the government’s written response did not address the court’s questions adequately. He emphasized that the government must provide answers or intelligence agencies may become part of the case.
Advocate Latif Khosa, representing the petitioners, mentioned that Mrs. Bushra Imran is being repeatedly summoned by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for voice matching and requested the court to halt what he termed as the “harassment” of his client.
Justice Sattar responded, “I cannot stop an investigative agency from investigating. When there is a violation of the law, you can challenge it. You are asking for an order to make FIA work according to the law. This order will be meaningless because FIA has to work according to the law. If you say so, I can write in the order that FIA should work according to the law.”
The court extended the suspension of the summons served by the standing committee to Najam Ali Saqib, the son of former CJP Saqib Nisar, and adjourned further hearing of the case.
The committee was established to investigate alleged audio leaks involving Najam Saqib, the son of former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar. In the audio recordings, Najam was purportedly heard discussing political matters and party tickets with various individuals.
