Audio leaks case: SC adjourns hearing till next week

ISLAMABAD: Amid the objections raised by the government and inquiry commission to the five-judge bench hearing audio leaks, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial adjourned the proceedings in the case till next week, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

After the federal government, the audio leaks commission on Wednesday raised objections to the five-member bench hearing the plea against it.

The bench — headed by CJP Bandial, comprising Justice Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed was hearing the case against audio leaks commission.

The secretary of the audio leaks commission in his reply submitted to SC said it would not be appropriate for CJP-led bench to hear the case as one of the audio recordings allegedly pertains to the mother-in-law of the chief justice.

“The Supreme Court Rules, 1980 (the Rules’) require that notices, prior to filing of any petition, must be sent by the petitioner/petitioner’s counsel to the respondents informing about the filing of the petitions, but this was not done.”

The SC released its verdict without hearing the stance of the audio leaks commission, as its head Justice Qazi Faez Isa already made it clear that the proceedings should not be taken as of SJC.

Today’s hearing

At the outset of the hearing, CJP Bandial said the top court would hear the attorney general for Pakistan’s (AGP) plea first and will include some new petitions filed in the case.

“We will hear the attorney general’s arguments on the objections to the bench,” the CJP said.

“The government’s petition includes some words that should not have been there,” the top judge remarked.

He further said that the arguments on the new pleas will be heard in the next week.

The hearing was then adjourned till next week, shortly after the resumption of proceedings.

Earlier this month, the federal government had formed a three-member commission, headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa, to investigate the leaked audios allegedly involving the judiciary and former chief justices and a judge.