ISLAMABAD:The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed the Attorney General for Pakistan and Pakistan Bar Council Chairman to submit names of certified foreign forensic firms to conduct a forensic analysis of an alleged audiotape of former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar.
The IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah gave the direction while hearing arguments on the maintainability of a petition jointly filed by former President of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) Salahuddin Ahmad and a member of the Judicial Commission (Sindh) Syed Haider Imam Rizvi. The court also directed that a copy of the audiotape should be provided to the petitioners.
The petitioner sought formation of an independent commission to ascertain the authenticity of Mian Saqib Nisar’s alleged audiotape and probe certain events before and after the conviction of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz by the Islamabad accountability court.
While hearing the petition, Chief Justice Athar Minallah noted that the whereabouts of the original audiotape clip were not even known. He said it was also not known if it was authentic. He said no accountability court was under the administrative control of the IHC.
Advocate Salahuddin Ahmad stated that he was also unaware about the authenticity of the audio clip, thus the alleged audio conversation of the former CJP should be investigated to determine its authenticity. He requested the court to order formation of an independent commission to inquire into the matter and reach the truth.
Chief Justice Athar Minallah then noted that those whose (Nawaz, Maryam) appeals were pending did not demand any inquiry until now, whilst the instant petition alleged that the IHC benches were formed under some pressure and influence. The counsel argued that no allegation was part of his petition, as, in fact, this allegation was made in the affidavit of former Chief Judge of Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Muhammad Shamim.
The chief justice inquired was there any small evidence proving that the IHC was compromised and its benches were constituted under pressure or influence. He said if there was no evidence then this was an attempt to erode public confidence in the court. Later, the court adjourned the hearing until January 28.
An unidentified individual, allegedly former CJP Mian Saqib Nisar, can be heard in the leaked audio clip speaking on the cell-phone to another unidentified individual of collusion to punish former Premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz to bring their political rival Imran Khan into power, by not granting bails to Nawaz and Maryam before the July 25, 2018 general election.