Commission to investigate audio leaks; Supreme Court upholds May 26 order
Case hearing postponed indefinitely pending resolution of pending objections
On Monday in ISLAMABAD, Pakistan’s highest court reaffirmed its ruling from May 26 halting the proceedings of an inquiry commission led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, which was investigating the validity of recent audio leaks and their influence on the independence of the judiciary.
The supreme court issued a directive for the inquiry commission applications to be heard.
The Supreme Court noted in its written ruling that Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan had objected to the bench’s composition of three justices.
While the petitioner’s attorney rebutted Awan’s contention that the three judges should step down from the court, the session continued.
After hearing both sides’ arguments, the court deferred further consideration of the matter indefinitely and said its decision would be withheld until the objections to the establishment of the bench could be resolved.
Formerly, the federal government had raised concerns about the appointment of Umar Atta Bandial as CJP, Ijaz-ul-Ahsan as Justice, and Muneeb Akhtar as Justice to the bench.
The directive
The Supreme Court halted an investigative committee headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa on May 26 to determine whether or not recent audio leaks had an effect on judicial independence.
While hearing four petitions filed by PTI Chairman Imran Khan, SCBA President Abid Zuberi, and others against the inquiry commission formed by the federal government, a five-judge SC bench consisting of the chief justice and Justices Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Shahid Waheed issued the order.
Naeem Akhtar Afghan, chief justice of the Balochistan High Court, and Aamer Farooq, chief justice of the Islamabad High Court, were also members of the commission.
The Assistant Attorney General (AGP) asked for and was granted permission to make a preliminary contribution during the hearing, in which he argued that Chief Justice Bandial should consider recusing himself from the bench due to a potential conflict of interest.
However, the order insisted that whenever a sitting judge was intended to be made a member of the body, permission of the chief justice of Pakistan had to be sought first. This was a constitutional principle that had been acted upon multiple times in the constitution of commissions.
The order went on to say that a supremely important “constitutional principle” had been “breached” since it appeared the federal government had acted alone in this situation.
The fundamental legitimacy of the commission itself was called into question, as stated in the order.
