On Wednesday, the attorney general informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that the federal government had not authorized the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), or any other entity to access any audio files, about the audio leaks case.
According to AGP Mansoor Usman Awan, who presented a report on behalf of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), “Any government agency conducting such recordings is doing so unlawfully.”
Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, has petitioned the IHC to hear her case. A communication between her and her lawyer, PTI leader Latif Khosa, was allegedly leaked, and she has filed legal action against it.
The sole judge on the bench, Justice Babar Sattar, made the comment that the next step in the matter should be determined by the federal government. “National and international judicial bodies may be asked to intervene if the government refuses to reveal who is listening in on the calls.”
The PMO, according to AGP Awan, insists that no organisation has authorised the practice of wiretapping. Before they can decide who recorded the call, the FIA must examine the case. In response to court directions, the FIA is notifying telecom providers, AGP Awan informed the court.
It is necessary for the FIA to have access to IP addresses. It is absolutely illegal for any government agency to be making these recordings, he stressed again.
According to the AGP, the ISI has insisted that reports from social media sites are necessary to move the investigations forward.
Concerning the measures taken by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) against the television networks that broadcasted the audio leaks, Justice Sattar wanted to know. Private audio leaks cannot be shown on television, according to PEMRA. In addition, they mentioned that they are unable to take any swift measures at this time as the issue has been escalated to PEMRA’s council of grievances.
Justice Sattar stated, “There is a balance between freedom of information and privacy,” when speaking to senior lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan inside the court. What is the best way to proceed with this case?
Given the flagrant disregard for the Constitution, Aitzaz argued that self-regulations ought to be established. “The election announcement was made 90 days ago, but the Constitution has still not been executed.”
The judge ordered the AGP to see if there was any report that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) had been granted permission to secretly record talks. “I will check and report back,” he replied.
For the next hearing, the court ordered the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Federal Industrial Authority (FIA), and other parties to re-submit their replies.
Leaked audio is being investigated by the IHC.
Justice Sattar ordered the FIA to look into the original release location of the tape and provide a report at the last hearing.
Furthermore, the court directed that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general be provided with a copy of the application requesting a report regarding the audio’s leaker.
As part of its case management process, the court also sent notifications on the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA). Concerned with the broadcast of private discussions on television, Justice Sattar voiced his disapproval.
Lawyer Latif Khosa argued throughout the court that client-attorney communications should remain confidential.
Everyone knew who was recording these chats, he said.
The judge joked, saying, “Big Boss is listening to everything, you should know.” The courtroom was filled with laughing at this.
He asked whether the tape had been shared on social media sites like X and stressed the need of finding out who leaked it.
To emphasise how far the leak had spread, Khosa said that all the TV channels had broadcast the audio. Additionally, he voiced his displeasure with the lack of confidentiality in online interactions.
The unauthorised recording
The former prime minister’s family reportedly had disagreements while he was in prison, according to an audio recording that was going around on social media. The footage supposedly featured Bushra Bibi and Khosa.
The audio tape features Bushra and Khosa voicing their dissatisfaction with Khan’s sisters.
In a recent occurrence, the sisters of Khan voiced their worries about the handling of a situation involving his safety in Attock jail, which the former first lady remembers. She continued by saying that things became more complicated because the sisters were there.
