Today, 26th May 2023, A Number of petitions contesting the composition of a judicial panel established last week by the coalition government to look into audio leaks are being heard by the Supreme Court bench, which is headed by the Chief Justice.
The Petition was filed by Imran Khan, the chairman of the PTI, Abid Shahid Zuberi, Muqtedir Akhtar Shabbir, and Riaz Hanif Rahi.
Government following audio leaks in last weeks had issued notification for formation of Judicial Commission stating that such actions had damaged public trust and that serious concerns had been raised by the general public regarding “independence, impartiality, and uprightness of the Chief Justices/Judges of the Superior Courts,”. The federal government established a three-member judicial commission, headed by senior puisne judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court.
The judicial commission has started looking into judge audio leaks. The panel request the federal government to provide the new SIM cards and Android smartphones. The head of the judicial committee, Justice Qazi Faez Isa instructed the federal government to give the full name and address of everyone who appeared in the audio recordings.
In all four petitions, the petitioner said that the investigation commission’s creation and the recent audio leaks effectively influenced the Supreme Court’s proceedings and interfered with the operations of the SJC. It was said that the Constitution forbids the tapping of citizens’ phones and questioned whether the inquiry commission would issue any orders without knowing where the audio recordings came from.
In their petition to the Supreme Court, they argued that because the Audio Leaks Commission was established in accordance with Article 175 A, no judge may be nominated for it without the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s (CJP) approval. Additionally, any commission established in response to a government announcement would tend to harm the judiciary’s independence with undue intereference.
