The Supreme Court of Pakistan has dismissed objections raised by the previous Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government regarding the bench hearing petitions that challenged the formation of a three-judge commission tasked with investigating the authenticity of audio leaks.
Politicians, judges of the top court, and their family members were implicated in these audio leaks.
Justice Ijazul Ahsan announced a short order, asserting that the objections raised amounted to “an attack on the independence of the judiciary.”
The commission in question had been established by the previous coalition government on May 20 under Section 3 of the Pakistan Commission of Inquiry Act 2017. It was led by the upcoming Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, with the participation of Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
However, on May 26, the Supreme Court had restrained the commission from proceeding with its investigative work, a decision made by a five-member bench overseeing the case.
The recent ruling comes in response to a set of petitions filed by Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Abid Shahid Zuberi, SCBA Secretary Muqtedir Akhtar Shabbir, PTI Chairman Imran Khan, and Advocate Riaz Hanif Rahi, all seeking to declare the commission’s formation as illegal.
Consequently, the government-appointed commission decided to suspend its proceedings until the Supreme Court resolved the pending petitions.
The PDM government had requested the reconstitution of the five-member bench responsible for hearing the pleas against the commission’s formation. They argued that Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar should recuse themselves from the bench as “rules of natural justice” demanded impartiality from the adjudicators.
In addition to concerns about the presence of the CJP on the bench, the application had highlighted that some of the audio leaks also implicated two other members, Justice Akhtar and Justice Ahsan.
One of the leaked audio recordings featured a conversation between petitioner Abid Zuberi and the then-chief minister, discussing a case involving CCPO Ghulam Mehmood Dogar. The presiding judge in that case was Justice Ahsan.
Similarly, another leaked audio recording concerned a conversation between a senior lawyer’s wife and the mother-in-law of the CJP, making reference to Justice Akhtar.
The Supreme Court’s detailed verdict, authored by CJP Bandial, was issued later in the day.
