ISLAMABAD, Jun 06 (APP):The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned hearing of a petition filed against the judicial commission probing the veracity of audio leaks till date in office.
The five-member larger bench comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed heard the case.
During the course of proceedings, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan said the government had objections over the bench. He also read out the orders issued by the bench after its previous proceedings.
The CJP asked the AGP what the point he was trying to establish. He expressed his dismay over the formation of the commission without informing him. The chief justice was available but was not informed in that regard, he added, asking the AGP to present his argument on these points.
The AGP said he wanted to present his arguments against the constitution of the bench.
Upon this, the chief justice observed that if he (AGP) wanted to point out that three of the judges were controversial then he would had to explain the basis of that assumption.
The chief justice was the only forum which could decide whether an SC judge could be spared or not, he added.
Reading out the audio leaks commission’s terms of reference (TORs), the AGP pointed out that one of the leaked audios was related to the CJP’s mother-in-law, and he was seeking the CJP’s recusal on account of the conflict of interest.
The government’s only objective to form the commission was to determine the authenticity of the leaks, he added.
Justice Munib asked whether the Federal Government was not aware that the audio leaks were authentic or not.
The AGP said the only precise reason for the constitution of the commission was to determine the audio leaks’ authenticity.
Advocate Shoaib Shaheen, counsel for Supreme Court Bar Association President Abid Zuberi, contended that the audio leaks surfaced after the February 16 order wherein a division bench of the apex court had requested the CJP to invoke his suo motu jurisdiction regarding the delay in the elections of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies.
The bench then reserved its decision on the plea about the recusal of three judges, and adjourned the hearing.
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