The federal cabinet on Tuesday raised objection over the Supreme Court bench hearing the audio leaks commission case.
The federal government formed a three-member judicial commission, led by Supreme Court senior judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, to probe the multiple audio leaks about the judiciary, but the committee stopped working following orders of the apex court.
Also Read: Supreme Court adjourned the Punjab Election case hearing for indefinite period
The plea submitted by the federal government has raised objections over the inclusion of CJP Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Muneeb Akhtar in the audio leaks commission bench.
Govt files objection agains… by zainab
The plea stated that as per the code of conduct, judges cannot hear cases related to their relatives, former CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry also denied being part of the Arslan Iftikhar case.
The federal government has sought the formation of a new bench in the audio leaks case hearing.
In the petition filed today, the government requested that a new bench be formed to hear the petitions against the high-powered commission — headed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
“Chief Justice Umar Atta Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar should not listen to the audio leak case,” the petition appealed, adding that the “three respected judges should refuse to sit in the five-member larger bench”.
Remember that, last week five-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial stopped proceedings of the judicial body and suspended the notification issued by the federal government.
The court issued its ruling on the petitions against the judicial body on audio leaks constituted by the federal government and issued notices to the parties.
Audio leaks to be probed
The commission was notified to investigate the following audio leaks:
- Call between former Punjab chief minister and an advocate about fixation of some cases before a particular SC bench.
- Call between former Punjab chief minister and a sitting apex court judge.
- Call between former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar and a senior lawyer.
- Call between a lawyer and a journalist on the outcome of a case before a particular SC bench.
- Call between former prime minister Khan and his party colleague about their links in the apex court.
- Call between mother-in-law of CJP Umar Ata Bandial and wife of a lawyer regarding SC cases and conversation about an un-constitutional rule.
- Call between ex-CJP Nisar’s son Najam Saqib and his friend mentioning his father in a political role.
