LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) Tuesday halted the enforcement of the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) notice to summon PTI Chairman Imran Khan in its probe into audio leaks — related to the cypher allegedly containing a threat from the US.
Earlier, after removing the Registrar’s Office’s objection regarding the jurisdiction of the LHC, Justice Asjad Javed Ghural directed the court office to fix the hearing of Khan’s petition challenging the FIA’s authority to summon the PTI chief.
Salman Safdar, Khan’s lawyer, argued before the court that FIA did not mention in its notice whether the petitioner had been summoned as a witness or a suspect.
“Has it been investigated as to how the audio got leaked in the first place,” Justice Ghural asked. “This remains unknown so far,” Advocate Safdar replied to the court. The judge said this incident should be investigated.
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The lawyer said Khan’s petition in this regard was pending in the Supreme Court. Justice Ghural questioned: “Has everyone been included in the audio leaks case inquiry or is it just Imran Khan who is being investigated?”
Advocate Safdar said the FIA was being used to pursue politically-motivated cases. “We appeal to the court to take notice of this mala fide intent,” Khan’s counsel said adding, “We also fear an FIR in this matter”.
He urged to court to suspend the FIA’s last notice. When the court questioned about FIA’s authority to issue a notice, Khan’s lawyer said the agency was not authorised to take such action.
Reacting to the above dialogue between Advocate Safdar and Justice Ghural, the Federation’s lawyer said then FIA should be summoned to the court.
Later the hearing was adjourned until December 19.
