ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) directed the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Thursday to submit a report regarding the audio leak of a private conversation between former premier Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and her lawyer Latif Khosa.
“The DG ISI must also submit a report on who leaked the audio,” Justice Babar Sattar said as he headed a single-member bench hearing the miscellaneous application filed against the audio leak.
The judge’s remarks came as he ordered the FIA to conduct forensics of the audio.
“It should be investigated where the audio was first released,” the judge said, ordering for a copy of the application to also be sent to the DG ISI.
The IHC issued notices to FIA, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as well as the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
“PEMRA must tell how peoples’ private conversations were being aired on television,” Justice Sattar said.
The judge, on inquiring about the objections imposed on the application by the court registrar, was told by Khosa that the registrar had objected to a miscellaneous application being filed instead of a separate one.
“A miscellaneous application in the audio leaks case – ongoing in the IHC – can be filed,” Khosa said, adding that conversations between a lawyer and client were privileged – a legal rule that protects communications within certain relationships from compelled disclosure in a court proceeding.
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“The ‘Big Boss’ is listening to everything, you must know,” Justice Sattar said as the courtroom erupted into laughter.
“Who is recording these audios,” Justice Sattar asked.
“Everyone knows who is recording them,” Khosa responded.
“We can’t take action over assumptions,” Justice Sattar stated.
Khosa added that the matter was not exclusively a problem for him, but for all lawyers of the country. “How will the justice system work if a lawyer will not be able to speak to their client freely,” he maintained.
Justice Sattar asked if the audio was first leaked on Twitter, or somewhere else. He observed that once it was determined where the audio leak was first leaked, it will be easier to determine who recorded it.
The lawyer informed that the audio leak was run by all media channels. “Screens go blank on PEMRA’s orders on even the mention of a certain name,” he said, adding that “nobody tells me it is not safe to have conversations on my phone”.
