Mian Saqib Nisar, Pakistan’s former chief justice, offered his second response on Monday, claiming that the voice in the leaked audio recording is fabricated which is of a conversation between him and an unidentified person about PML-N leaders (Nawaz Sharif and Maryum Nawaz).
“Let me be a little blunt about it,” a voice, apparently that of the former chief justice, can be heard saying in the audio clip. Furthermore, the audio clip records, “Unfortunately, in this case, it is the institutions who make the decisions. We will have to punish Mian Sahab in this scenario. We must bring Khan Sahab, I’ve been instructed.”
“You are completely true,” Nisar allegedly tells the man on the other end of the line when he said that Maryam Nawaz “doesn’t deserve a sentence.”
In response, the voice (allegedly of Saqib Nisar) replied, “I talked to my friends that something should be done about this but they did not agree. The independence of the judiciary will not remain. So, let it be.”
Forensic analysis
According to Fact Focus which initially broke the news checked with the top business (Great Discovery) in the United States that specializes in multimedia forensics.
As per Fact Focus, “Garret Discovery has a team of leading experts who have a long experience of analyzing and presenting evidence and testifying before courts in the US. The firm’s analysis report certifies the integrity of the audio file and states that ‘this audio has not been edited in any way.”
According to the Fact Focus investigation, Nisar stated that he had never contacted any judge of an accountability court to request that a verdict be announced against Nawaz or Maryam.
PML-N calls for explanation
Meanwhile, PML-N leaders have continued to criticize Nisar over the supposed audio clip, demanding that he explain his position.
The audio clip, according to Shehbaz Sharif, demonstrated how Nawaz and Maryam were “targeted as part of a broad strategy to keep them out of the political process.”
Marriyum Aurangzeb, a PML-N spokesperson posted the screenshots of the forensic analysis on Twitter.
Secretary-general Ahsan Iqbal called on Nisar to explain his position as the leaked audio clips provide evidence of what was an open secret in Islamabad.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry while questioning the authenticity of the audio clip posted a clip of Nawaz Sharif on Twitter in which he can be heard criticizing himself.
Controvery against Saqib Nisar
Last Monday, Nisar refuted claims made against him by Rana Shamim, a former senior judge in Gilgit-Baltistan, about collusion to refuse bail to Nawaz and Maryam before the general elections in 2018.
On the same day, Shamim was quoted in an alleged affidavit in The News by journalist Ansar Abbasi as saying that he witnessed Nisar relaying instructions to a high court judge not to release the father-daughter duo in the corruption references against them.
According to the alleged affidavit, Shamim claimed that the ex-CJP traveled to the United Kingdom for vacations in 2018 and appeared “very disturbed” while speaking on the phone with his registrar, asking him to contact a high court judge on one occasion.
Nisar was ultimately able to contact the judge and inform him that Nawaz and Maryam must remain in custody until the elections are completed, after which “he got calm and cheerfully asked another cup of tea,” according to Shamim.
According to the paper, Shamim told Nisar that Nawaz was wrongly accused, to which the former CJP responded, “Rana Sahab, the chemistry of Punjab is different from GB.”
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), demanded a suo motu notice in the case, asking, “If Mian Nawaz Sharif can go to jail, why can’t Mian Saqib Nisar?”
