Legal experts on Monday said that the audio clip attributed to former Supreme Court chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar would have no impact on the cases pending before the courts against former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.
Some lawyers believe that this [leakage of audio clip] was another attack on the independence of the judiciary and many others said that spreading such ‘audio clips’ was tantamount to committing contempt of court, because when they [producers of audio clips] know that the cases were sub judice, then why such a video had been leaked to the public.
Talking to Minute Mirror, Advocate Azhar Siddique said, “They [Sharifs] had no idea of the consequences as the affidavit of former Gilgit Baltistan chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar damaged them. They are out of their senses to do anything like this. In my view, this audio is fabricated.”
The lawyer opined that everybody could see that most of the discussion on this video was by the PML-N and they were the ones spreading it most.
Azhar said, “This [leakage of audio clip] is also a violation of cyber laws and I believe that the Federal Investigation Agency must take action against all those who are behind this clip.”
Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Ahsan Bhoon said that the audio clip was nothing but a premature attempt, adding that saying anything about it would also be premature.
“Conspiracies are being hatched against the judiciary because there will be a trust deficit about the judges if there are continuous attacks on the courts,” said Bhoon.
“You know former chief justice Saqib Nisar’s response is there and he has denied it,” he said.
He also defended former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s speech at the Asma Jahangir conference, saying how could one present his point of view if he was totally muted.
He argued, “Everybody has the right to criticize, but [only] under the law, and not through conspiracies,” he added.
Former federal law minister Dr. Khalid Ranjha also believed that merely introducing such an audio clip would have no impact on the proceedings of the cases pending before the courts until and unless the person who claimed it ‘correct’ personally appeared before court to testify that he recorded it and witnessed it.
“I couldn’t hear that audio clip, but one thing is sure under the law that merely producing such an audio clip has no legal value,” said the former Law Minister.
When asked whether the former Supreme Court chief justice could be brought to justice only if it was proved that the audio leak that was being attributed to him was correct, he replied: “Yes, but if the person who recorded comes to the court to testify.”
Recently, an audio clip, allegedly featuring Saqib Nisar, was leaked in which the ex-chief justice purportedly told another person that Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz would have to be punished to make space for Imran Khan in politics.
However, former chief justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar, refused to accept the said audio clip, saying that it was fabricated, and falsely attributed to him.
