Justice Faez Isa adjourns proceedings of audio leaks commission

The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Saturday adjourned the proceedings of judicial commission formed to probe audio leaks.

The development comes a day after a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial ordered it to stop proceedings. Isa is the head of the three-member judicial commission.

In a meeting on Saturday, Justice Qazi Faez Isa said “the implementation of the Supreme Court rules is mandatory”.

Justice Isa raised questions over the SC order stopping the judicial panel from working.

Supreme Court stays proceedings of audio leaks commission

The audio leaks in question involve a number of high-profile individuals, including former PM Imran Khan, Nawaz Sharif, and former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar. The leaks have been widely circulated on social media and have caused a great deal of political and legal controversy.

On May 19, the federal government constituted the judicial commission to investigate the audio leaks and to recommend action against those responsible for their release.

During the hearing of the petition on Friday, Bandial observed that the formation of the government-appointed judicial commission “interfered in the judiciary’s internal matters” and noted that there were errors in the notification issued by the government for the formation of the commission.

After two-hour-long proceedings, the court reserved its verdict on the petitions and said that an appropriate order would be issued later on.

On Friday, the Supreme Court halted the commission’s proceedings and suspended the government’s May 19 notification.