KARACHI: Yet another taped phone conversation, featuring a former chief justice and a key member of the PTI legal team, emerged on Tuesday, where two men can be heard discussing the suo motu case currently before a three-member bench of the Supreme Court.

The latest in a spate of leaks targeting members of the judiciary, the conversation has not been denied by either former top judge Saqib Nisar or PTI’s Kha­waja Tariq Rahim, but talking to Dawn.com, the ex-CJP questioned the authenticity of the audio, calling it “a theft of my fundamental rights”.

The audio clip, which has been widely shared on social and mainstream media platforms, features the voices of two men apparently discussing a previous SC judgement, as well as the elections suo motu currently pending before the apex court.

“Please look into that… it is a seven-member judgment… this is suo motu number 4 of 2010, sir… seven-member judgement, 2012, has been reported on page number 553 of the Supreme Court,” the voice of the ex-CJP says.

Saqib Nisar says he is free to give advice to anyone, terms audio ‘theft’ of his fundamental rights

Here, the man on the other end of the call, beli­eved to be PTI’s Mr Rahim, replies in the affirmative. “Whoever is your lawyer, tell him to check it out. It states that if… never mind, you’ll know when you will read it,” the ex-CJP says.

In response, Mr Rahim purportedly says: “I will read. I have seen the seven-member bench judgment. They have stated in it that until the act is not formulated… if you read it carefully, clause three has it…”

At this point, the voice believed to be Saqib Nisar replies “yes I have seen that, it is the way out for you”.

He goes on: “And secondly Tariq sahab, if any person of yours is ready, you can use the Munir Ahmed Khan [judgment] which is a clear case of contempt of court.”

“That too… that too,” Mr Rahim replies, after which the ex-CJP purportedly says “after what happened in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, I don’t think there is any…”

Interjecting, the person on the other end says that “we are only waiting for the three-member bench’s verdict… it can take another half an hour… after that, we are filing a contempt application”.

The audio clip of this alleged conversation comes on the heels of another similar leak, that purportedly featured a conversation between two women — one of whom was said to be related to a top-ranking serving SC judge, while the other was Mr Rahim’s spouse.

The two women could also be heard discussing the case linked to KP and Punjab polls.

Ex-CJP ‘free to give advice’

Speaking to Dawn.com, ex-CJP Nisar termed the audio leak a violation of his right to privacy, adding: “I am a citizen of Pakistan, an ex-CJP and I give free advice to those in office. Khawaja Tariq Rahim is a friend and I gave him advice.”

Later, in a separate conversation with Dawn, he said: “It is a discussion between two decades-old friends and professionals, who are discussing a legal point in the context of a particular case. Did I malign any institution or speak against Pakistan? It was a simple discussion on a legal merit.

“I have my views on legal matters and can discuss them with anyone and everyone seeking advice or just trying to take my input. What is wrong in it? If not, why call it a controversy?”

PTI’s Khawaja Tariq Rahim, the other person said to be featured in the leaked clip, expressed similar views.

Speaking on a YouTube channel, he explained that the conversation was in the context of the disqualification of Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, the former prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir who was shown the door by the Kashmir High Court in a recent contempt of court case.

“I am neither a lawyer nor a party to that particular case. But, I was certainly interested in seeing what grounds the high court has used to hold Ilyas guilty. It was as simple as that.”

PML-N reaction

Reacting to the leak, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said in a tweet that he was disappointed to hear the audio, saying that Mr Nisar had gone too far in his quest for revenge against Nawaz Sharif.

“You took revenge on Nawaz Sharif and sentenced him. How long will you continue to feed on this poison?” he added.

The PML-N — especially Maryam Nawaz Sharif — has time and again blamed the former CJP for disqualifying Mr Sharif as prime minister in the Panama Papers case in 2017.

Sharing the audio clip on Tuesday, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said that the “mastermind of the 2017 regime change and judicial martial law conspiracy still conducting the orchestra”.

Reacting to the leaked audio, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb also expressed disapproval over what she termed “judicial bias” in certain high-profile cases.

“Wives, mothers-in-law, children and Dam Baba vs Constitution of Pakistan… competition is tough and time is running out,” she said in a tweet.

Muzhira Amin in Karachi and Ahmad Fraz Khan in Lahore also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2023