The Supreme Court will hear arguments over the leaks body today.
CJ Bandial convenes a special five-judge bench.
In response to petitions filed against the establishment of a judicial inquiry commission investigating the alleged audio leaks involving current and former members of the superior judiciary and their families, Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial has convened a five-judge larger bench in ISLAMABAD.
The bench also consists of Justices Ijazul Ahsan, Munib Akhtar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Shahid Waheed, in addition to the CJP as head.
There are two competing factions within the superior judiciary, and both are widely regarded to have “like-minded” justices in agreement with the CJP.
The bench will begin taking testimony on the petitions on Friday.
As of last week, a judicial commission had been established by the federal government to investigate the “veracity” and “impact on the independence of the judiciary” of more than a half-dozen leaked audio clips allegedly involving some current and former members of the superior judiciary and their families.
Supreme Court senior puisne judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa heads the three-man judicial panel, which also includes the chief justices of the Balochistan High Court, Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and the Islamabad High Court, Aamer Farooq.
But SCBA President Abid Zuberi petitioned the Supreme Court, claiming the commission’s establishment ran counter to articles 9, 14, 18, 19, and 25 of the Constitution.
It argued that tapping citizens’ mobile phones was against the Constitution.
The petitioner questioned the commission’s ability to make an order without identifying the origin of the audio.
The petition also claimed that the establishment of the commission had meddled with the SJC’s business.
The audio leaks that surfaced recently, the petition said, amounted to trying to sway the Supreme Court.
The audio recordings, according to the petition, were also being released on social media sites in a methodical fashion.
The commission, it was said, had likewise paid little attention to the sound quality during the hearings.
It was claimed that the Pakistani attorney general (AGP) had not been given the directive to investigate the origin of the recordings.
It went on to say that the panel had not provided any advance warning of the audio recording of its deliberations.
The petition requested the Supreme Court to stop the government probe committee it had set up from carrying out its mandate.
The petition listed the respondents as the federation, the investigation panel, Pemra, and the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority.
Also on May 29th, a petition was filed with the Lahore High Court challenging a government-formed judicial investigation committee, and the Lahore High Court requested a response from the government.
A civilian named Amir Abdullah petitioned the LHC’s Justice Asim Hafeez to halt the commission’s inquiry into the audio leaks, but Hafeez ruled against him.
The judge stated that the AGP’s position needed to be heard before the notification for the creation of the commission could be thrown out.
The judge stated in writing that the subject was of such great importance that the court needed the help of the AGP and the advocate general of Punjab.(With help from our Lahore reporter)
