The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday asked the government to inform it about the elements behind recording audios of conversations and stopped the special parliamentary body from proceeding against former chief justice (CJP) Saqib Nisar’s son.
The comments were made by Justice Babar Sattar as he was deliberating over a petition brought up by Najam Saqib, the son of the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, against a special committee appointed by Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to look into audio files purportedly including his voice.
The court issued the directives while hearing a petition filed by Najam Saqib, the son of ex-CJP Saqib Nisar, against a National Assembly committee tasked with investigating his purported audio leak, wherein a voice said to be his could be heard demanding a “reward” from a PTI leader for securing him the party ticket to contest Punjab elections.
“Who records the audios,” Justice Babar Sattar asked as the IHC took up the case. The court sought a response from the government by June 19 and also barred the NA committee from taking any action against the ex-CJP’s son.
In his petition, Najam had requested the court to stop the proceedings of the parliamentary panel headed by Aslam Bhootani as the body was formed in violation of the National Assembly rules.
He also claimed that the committee did not summon him but the secretary of the committee still asked him to appear before the panel.
Najam had also challenged the “legality and validity” of the National Assembly speaker’s decision to form the special committee to “audit, inquire and investigate” his alleged audio clip.
“Under the garb of these audio leaks, a campaign has been launched against the petitioner and his father that some kind of gratification has been obtained by Abuzar Chaddhar for the said ticket,” he said.
