Chief Justice Trashes Justice Isa’s Audioleaks Commission

Supreme Court of Pakistan stopped Audioleaks Isa Judicial Commission from functioning, notification of establishment of commission was suspended, and judicial commission’s proceedings were prohibited. Supreme Court declared that establishment of a judicial commission is an interference by government in boundaries of judiciary, which cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. Consultation of Chief Justice is a mandatory process for establishment of any commission.

A written order was issued on the petitions against the Audio Leaks Justice Qazi Faiz Isa Judicial Commission established by the federal government.

A five-member larger bench headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial of the Supreme Court of Pakistan heard the petitions against Justice Faiz Isa Audio Leaks Judicial Commission.

A larger bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Bandial and comprising Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan, Justice Muneeb Akhtar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed heard the petitions.

After PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair, PTI leader Iftikhar Durrani’s video leaked

Decision on Audio Lecture Judicial Commission

The Supreme Court of Pakistan delivered an 8-page judgment on the petitions against the AudioLeaks Judicial Commission and suspended the transcript released by PEMRA.

The decision stated that the establishment of Audio Leaks Judicial Commission is against the law.

The judgment also stated that “that which is against the law itself, i.e. recording someone’s conversation without his knowledge, is a crime. Then how can an inquiry against him be legal? It should have been about who was recording the audio. There is an inquiry into what people are talking about.

The judgment states that no sitting judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court can be nominated to any commission without consulting the Chief Justice, therefore ordering the stay of the judicial commission’s inquiry.

The decision states that the transcript released by PEMRA is suspended.

Earlier during the hearing, Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial said that the notification of the Audio Leaks Investigation Commission is apparently a violation of Article 209, an attempt to divide judges. They suggest that this effort may be unintentional, requiring careful consideration in such cases.

Hearing

At the beginning of the hearing, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan objected and said that the Chief Justice is requested to remove himself from the bench.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked on this that how the government can choose the judges of the Supreme Court for its own purpose.

The Chief Justice further said that Mr. Attorney General, this is a matter of independence of judiciary. Enough is enough, Mr. Attorney General, sit down.

Chief Justice Bandyal remarked that the government cannot add judges to the benches as per its wish.

He further said that because of the events of May 9, when violent protests broke out in the country after the arrest of the PTI chief, statements criticizing the judiciary stopped.

Addressing the Attorney General, the Chief Justice said, “Do not interfere with our administrative powers.” He said that we have full respect for the government, adding that the judiciary is the guardian of fundamental human rights.

Justice Bundyal remarked that the government hastily enacted legislation to regulate the powers of the Chief Justice. “If the government had consulted us, we would [آپ کو] Show a better way. You have also made bail and family cases a part of the legislation.

The Chief Justice remarked that I am sorry to say that the government has tried to create differences among the judges. The constitution of the Judicial Commission did not specify who did the phone tapping first, the Chief Justice observed, raising the question of “phone tapping in unconstitutional activity”.

Meanwhile, Justice Muneeb Akhtar also remarked that tapping telephone conversations is not only an illegal act but also a violation of human rights under Article 14 of the Constitution. In this case, the independence of the courts may also be questioned.

Advocate Shaheen agreed. “The question of who taped the audios is not written anywhere in the code of the inquiry commission,” he highlighted.

The lawyer added that the government is giving the impression that phone tapping is acceptable. “The government should make it clear that no agency was involved in the phone tapping.”

Here, Chief Justice Bandyal said that there was a case of Benazir Bhutto government regarding phone tapping. He said that in the case of Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, rules were also laid down.

“But who will decide which judge violated the code of conduct?” the chief justice remarked.

Advocate Shaheen replied that under Article 209 of the Constitution, these powers rest with the Supreme Judicial Council. However, the lawyer pointed out that in the present situation the authority of the SJC has been given to the Commission of Inquiry.

At one point during the hearing, the Chief Justice said that the audio leaks were accepted as valid only on assumptions.

After hearing the arguments, the bench reserved its verdict and said that it will issue a reasoned order today.

Center forms Commission

On May 20, the federal government constituted a three-member judicial commission to investigate the audio leak related to judges.

The federal government constituted a three-member judicial commission to investigate the audio leaks related to judges.

The commission includes Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court Amir Farooq.

A notification was issued stating that the commission will be headed by Justice Isa. In the notification, reservations have also been expressed on behalf of the federal government.

The notification issued by the Cabinet Division said that the controversial audio leaks of the former Chief Justice of Pakistan are playing in the media. Discussions about judges raised serious concerns about their impartiality.

It further said that the audio of the Chief Justice and the judges of the High Courts has hurt public confidence.

The document said that people have expressed concern about the impartiality of judges of high courts.

Petitions

Earlier on May 22, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf had challenged the judicial commission set up to investigate the audio leaks in the Supreme Court. A constitutional petition was filed in the Supreme Court against the Judicial Commission.

In the petition, it was requested that the notification for the formation of the Judicial Commission should be declared null and void.

The petition stated that ‘no judge can be nominated for the commission without the permission of the Chief Justice of Pakistan’.

It added that the only forum for investigation or action against a judge is the Supreme Judicial Council.

On May 20, the federal government constituted a three-member judicial commission to investigate audio leaks related to judges and the judiciary.