ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday proposed to conduct a forensic analysis of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar’s alleged audio clip and sought names of certified international forensic agencies from Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan and the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC).
IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the arguments on the maintainability of a petition seeking the formation of an independent commission to ascertain the authenticity of Nisar’s alleged audiotape.
The petition has been jointly filed by Salahuddin Ahmed, president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA), and Syed Haider Imam Rizvi, a member of the Judicial Commission (Sindh).
During the hearing, Justice Minallah remarked that the whereabouts of the original audio clip was not known. To which, the petitioner replied that he was not aware of it either.
“We request that an independent commission be formed to inquire into the matter,” the petitioner prayed. The IHC CJ remarked that the matter was related to a pending appeal and those who had appealed have not demanded an inquiry.
Minallah also told the petitioner that in his petition, “it is alleged that the benches of this court were formed under pressure.” Advocate Salahuddin said that this allegation was not in his petition but was made in the Rana Shamim affidavit case.
The petitioner further prayed that the main appeal in his petition was related to the inquiry of Saqib Nisar’s alleged audio clip and it did not state anywhere that he was talking to a judge on the other side.
Subsequently, the court asked the AGP and the PBC to propose names of foreign authorised forensic agencies to conduct an analysis of the leaked clip. The judge also directed the petitioner to provide the audio clip and adjourned the hearing till January 28.
In the audio clip leaked in November last year, the former CJP was heard allegedly instructing an unidentified person to sentence former premier Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz, and keep them in prison till general elections 2018. The former chief justice had termed the clip as “fabricated” and contrary to fact.
