SC judges take stock of audio leaks

ISLAMABAD:

Judges of the Supreme Court on Friday got down to brass tacks to take stock of the heated situation unfolding in the wake of audio leaks that have put the judiciary under the spotlight amid calls from within the legal fraternity for a probe and alarms that the tapes offered a glimpse into "attempts to tilt the scales of justice".

The jurists of the top court put their heads together to take stock of the viral audio tapes in which PML-Q leader Parvez Elahi is purportedly heard asking his lawyers to fix a corruption case before a particular judge of the court, sources revealed to The Express Tribune.

It was learnt that an “informal full court meeting” was held at 11am at committee room, which lasted for over 45 minutes.

The meeting came as the SC faces calls to open an investigation into the matter and dispel the alarming impression that brings the judiciary ‘under the question mark’.

Representatives of Independent Lawyers Group are already demanding Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial to probe the audio leaks.

Furthermore, members of the same group, who hold important portfolios in the superior bars, held press conference in Lahore wherein they reiterated their demand for an inquiry into the audio leaks.

However, interestingly, members of Professional Lawyers Group, also known as Hamid Khan Group, have remained tight-lipped over the leaks saga.

Although the leaks are the latest in a steady drip of damning audio recordings purportedly featuring politicians, the clips featuring Elahi have specifically sparked concerns from politicians – especially those belonging to government – as the judiciary remains in the spotlight for hearing high-profile cases.

SC and election process

Since the restoration of judges in March 2009, the Supreme Court has been actively intervening in various aspects of the elections processes.

During the tenure of former CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry from March 2009 to 2013, the apex court closely examined the election process by conducting hearings in several cases.

Read Iqbal demands probe into Elahi’s leaked audio

It is pertinent to note that while hearing PTI chief Imran Khan’s petition, the SC had given the ECP till February 23, 2012 and when the commission failed to meet the deadline, its officials had to face tough time in the apex court.

Facing immense pressure from the SC, the then ECP secretary Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan had written a letter to the then prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani over what he felt was “undue interference by the Supreme Court in the affairs of the commission”.

“Attempts by one institution to encroach upon the domains of other state institutions, in violation of clearly defined roles laid down in the Constitution, will only lead to disruption of the democratic system and chaos in society,” he had said in his letter and also offered his resignation.

Later, the court had taken notice of the ECP secretary’s letter but it did not pass any coercive order against him.

The SC on March 14, 2012 directed the then attorney general for Pakistan (AGP) to assist it in determining as to why the constitutional command under Article 219 of the Constitution was not met by the ECP and delayed the process of finalisation of fresh electoral lists without seeking approval.

Confrontation between the ECP and the SC regarding the preparation of voter lists ended after the retirement of then chief election commissioner (CEC) Hamid Ali Mirza on March 23, 2012.

In June 2012, the court gave a verdict in the Workers Party case after hearing counsels of different political parties. The court in its judgment had recommended several steps to the ECP for ensuring free and fair elections. Later, the SC initiated proceedings to implement its ruling.

On Nov 26, 2012, the SC observed that constituencies in Karachi should be delimited in a way to reflect “mixed population” to avoid political polarization but the ECP was reluctant to comply with the order.

Read more Courts must not encroach upon executive’s domain: SC

MQM founder Altaf Hussain had termed the court’s order regarding fresh delimitation in Karachi before a census an attempt to “snatch the party’s mandate” and said people of the city would never allow any such “conspiracy” to succeed. The apex court had later issued contempt notice to the MQM former chief but he had tendered an unconditional apology, which was accepted.

The SC on March 1, 2013 assailed the ECP for not implementing the court’s orders on delimitation of Karachi constituencies. In view of the court’s pressure, the ECP on March 22 issued a notification for delimitation of some constituencies in Karachi.

According to the notification, three constituencies of the National Assembly and eight constituencies of the provincial assembly were subject to delimitation. The MQM had complained in the United Nations against the delimitation of constituencies in Karachi.

According to the notification, three constituencies of the National Assembly and eight constituencies of the provincial assembly were subject to delimitation. The MQM had complained in the United Nations against the delimitation of constituencies in Karachi.

On December 4, 2012, the court – while hearing the plea of different political parties except the MQM – ordered the ECP to carry out a door-to-door verification process of electoral rolls in Karachi with the assistance of the Pakistan Army and the Frontier Constabulary (FC).

Before the 2013 general elections, the Supreme Court had focused on a matter related to granting voting rights to overseas Pakistanis in the upcoming general elections.

The ECP and the information technology ministry had asserted before the SC that giving rights to overseas Pakistanis would not be possible in the elections and anything done in haste would simply create unforeseen problems and seriously affect the credibility of the elections.

In July 2013, the Supreme Court had ordered the ECP to revise the presidential election schedule. Opposition parties had strongly protested over the SC decision. With the intervention of the Supreme Court, local government elections were held all over the country during the PML-N tenure.

Also read Top court directs JIT to investigate why Arshad Sharif left Pakistan

After the emergence of the Panama Papers scandal in 2016, the PML-N had faced a tough time.

Following the SC’s decision to disqualify former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N nominees had contested as independent candidates during previous Senate elections.

The Supreme Court led by former CJ Saqib Nisar had also stopped the ECP from issuing notification regarding the success of four newly elected senators due to their allegedly dual nationality.

Three of the newly elected senators belonged to the PML-N and one to the PTI.

The matter remained pending for several months. In October, 2018, when the PTI got majority in Punjab, the SC disqualified two PML-N senators Haroon Akhtar and Sadia Abbasi for holding dual citizenship. After their disqualification, the PTI was successful in getting both the seats.

Contrary to the Election Act 2017, the SC on June 5, 2018 restored almost all information omitted in the nomination forms by the parliament. One section of lawyers had questioned the SC order.

Before the 2018 election, former CJ Nisar had tried hard to give the overseas Pakistanis the right to vote. However it could not be done. “I tried that overseas Pakistanis could get facility to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming election but at this time, damage may occur at large scale for initiating any further step in this case,” the CJ had noted.

After the 2013 general elections, Imran Khan had alleged that former CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry was involved in elections rigging. Due to involvement of judicial officers in the elections process, the PTI had termed 2013 elections a “Returning Officers (ROs) election”.

Similar allegations echoed again after 2018 general elections for not providing the PML-N with the level playing field.