As audio tapes purportedly featuring private telephonic conversations of notable personalities continue to emerge, the PTI on Sunday renewed calls for investigation into these clips and urged the Supreme Court to take notice of the leaks.

Of late, a slew of audio leaks featuring key government and opposition figures — including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PTI Chairman Imran Khan, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, and others — have surfaced on social media.

The clips, seemingly featuring informal conversations, had raised serious concerns regarding the security of government offices — particularly the Prime Minister’s Office.

PM Shehbaz had termed the surfacing of audio leaks a “very serious lapse” and announced that a high-level committee would be constituted to probe the matter.

On the other hand, the PTI had filed a petition in the SC seeking a probe into the audios. Former premier Imran Khan had also written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and other SC judges, and sought “enforcement” of the fundamental rights of the public, including the Constitution’s Article 14 (fundamental right to privacy).

Earlier today, an audio clip purportedly featuring the mother-in-law of a top SC judge and the wife of a PTI lawyer emerged on social media. In the recordings, the women could be heard talking about a high-profile case currently being heard by the apex court.

The clip has not been independently verified by Dawn.com. The timing of the alleged audio is also not clear from the recording.

Commenting on the clip, the PTI chief said that the audio leaks were a matter of fundamental rights. “I want to tell the SC today that my petition [on the matter] has been lying in the court for the last eight months.”

“They recorded my conversations as the prime minister and released them. The Supreme Court should now take a step on it,” Imran added.

PTI leader and former minister Fawad Chaudhry said that his party had repeatedly urged the SC to probe the series of leaks, calling them “disastrous”.

“When audios from the Prime Minister’s Office and Prime Minister’s House were released, we repeatedly requested the Supreme Court to look into this series,” he tweeted. “If the office of the prime minister is not secure and audios are being recorded there, then how will anyone else in the country be safe?”

Mentioning PTI’s petition regarding the audio leaks, Fawad said that the plea had not been fixed for hearing even after all these months.

“Now, judges, politicians, civil servants, and even housewives are becoming victims of this third-class thinking and no one can do anything about it,” he stated, adding that “such illegal phone tapping is punishable by up to three years in prison under the fair trial law”.

Former human rights minister Shireen Mazari said that audio leaks involving private conversations of people showed the level of “depravity, desperation, and insanity the deep state and its puppet PDM regime is delving into with impunity”.

“Time for SC to move against such audio tapping which is clearly illegal. Sick minds!” she added.

Sanaullah calls for suo motu

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has demanded that a suo motu notice should be taken of the latest audio leak and a forensic audit of the clip should be conducted.

“Such conversations [audio leaks] raise concerns among the public […] in this conversation, a sitting judge is being pressured into taking a decision,” he said at a press conference in Faisalabad today.

“The audio has concerning impacts on the country. All those people who have heard this audio are angry and asking if justice is being served in this way … are decisions being taken on the basis of ego?”

Sanaullah said that it was fair to raise questions regarding how such audios were being leaked but at the same time stated that those purportedly featured in the clips should “come forward and hold a forensic audit of these audios”.

These things need to be clarified, the minister stressed. “I demand that a suo motu notice of this audio should be taken. A forensic audit should be conducted and if the clip is fabricated then those behind it should be punished.

“But if the clip is real then accountability should be sought from those behind these conversations, and the person about whom the conversation is should resign,” he demanded.

“Those who were mentioned in the audio, they should show grace and step down.”

During his press talk, Sanaullah also mentioned an audio leak involving SC’s Justice Mazahar Akbar Naqvi, saying that an investigation had not yet begun on that matter too. “Such things leave a negative impact on the nation and everyone is left worried,” he added.