Supreme Court rejects PDM’s objections in audio-leaks case

The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) has said “no” to objections from the previous government, led by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). The PDM didn’t want a group of judges, including Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, to hear a case about leaked audio recordings.

In May 2023, a five-member larger bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsen, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Justice Shahid Waheed, was formed to hear petitions against the then government’s decision to create a commission led by Justice Qazi Faez Isa. This commission was formed to investigate leaked audio recordings involving judges from the SCP.

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The PDM government asked the SCP to remove Chief Justice Bandial, Justice Ahsan and Justice Akhtar from this five-member team, raising objection on their impartiality.

Subsequently, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Abid Shahid Zuberi filed a petition requesting the SCP to declare the commission’s formation illegal. The final verdict, as announced by Justice Ijazul Ahsan on Friday (today) on Zuberi’s petition says that the government’s objections against the judges were like an “attack on the independence of the judiciary.”

SCP had reserved this verdict on June 6. Before that, on May 26, the larger bench had suspended the operation of the government’s notification, constituting the commission until May 31. This decision was made because they wanted more time to look into things, Chief Justice Umer Ata Bandial announced this in a brief statement.