Imran requests SC to fix plea against audio leaks for hearing

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek Insaf Chairman Imran Khan Monday requested that the Supreme Court hear his constitutional petition regarding audio leaks.

In a letter addressed to Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Umer Ata Bandial and all judges of the apex court, the PTI chairman sought enforcement of the Fundamental Right to Privacy (Article 14) and other fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan in the matter of what he called unverified “audio leaks.”

“I am compelled to write to you today to bring to your attention the impunity with which certain constitutional guarantees afforded to the people of Pakistan are being violated,” Imran Khan wrote.

He informed the apex court that he had filed a petition under Article 184(3) of the Constitution before the Supreme Court in October 2022 on the matter of audio leaks, but unfortunately, the case has not yet been fixed for hearing by the apex court.

The former prime minister said that it is now common knowledge that for the last several months, mysterious, unverified audio and video clips have periodically surfaced on social media in the country, purporting to carry alleged conversations between various public officials and ex-public officials, and on occasion, private individuals.

“The audio and video clips have not been verified and appear to be either deep fakes or fabricated, edited, trimmed, and joined, pieced together, and cannibalised to present an inaccurate and incorrect portrayal of the alleged conversations that they purport to carry,” he claimed.

The PTI chairman said that the matter came to a head several months ago when certain purported conversations were leaked, the ostensible content of which suggested that conversations taking place in the Prime Minister’s House or Office are being surveilled and bugged on a systematic and routine basis. It goes without saying that the Prime Minister’s Office is a highly sensitive state installation where matters of great national sensitivity and importance are discussed.

“A breach of security on this premises has a grave effect on the lives, livelihood, safety, and security of the people of Pakistan,” Imran Khan said, but added that the matter did not end there, and in the following months, it became clear that the use of unverified, unauthenticated, edited, and tampered leaks have only widened to target and silence criticism.

Among others, the PTI chairman said that Senator Azam Swati had suffered from the worst kind of invasion of privacy possible, adding that various former public officials, myself included, and even private members of the public have suffered from leaks (or releases) of unverified, edited, tampered with, pieced together, and even fabricated conversations.

Among the fundamental rights, Imran Khan said that the Constitution guarantees that the dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of the home are inviolable.

“With the utmost humility, it has become increasingly obvious that this guarantee is not only being violated but is being done so with an unjustifiable audacity and a clear sense of impunity,” the PTI chairman submitted.

He further submitted that, unfortunately, and respectfully, it has come to a situation where recently even alleged conversations purporting to be between an ex-chief minister and a judge of the Supreme Court were leaked through social media.

“It is now plain to see that the people of Pakistan are subject to routine surveillance and recording and that this surveillance and recording are liable to be doctored, tampered with, and released in the public domain,” the former PM said.

He submitted that this begs the question: under what law are the people subject to such widespread surveillance and recording, by whom, to what end, under what constraints, and with what checks and balances are in place?

“Can their conversations be recorded at will without any lawful authority and then doctored and released, and what measures have been taken over the last several months to put an end to such breaches?” the PTI chairman questioned.

He further questioned: “Are our sensitive state installations, where matters of great consequence may be debated, secure?” “If our fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution are to have any meaning, we, the people of Pakistan, deserve answers to these questions,” he wrote, requesting that the chief justice schedule a hearing on his petition regarding the unauthorised and unverified audio leaks as soon as possible.

“I know that I am not alone in anxiously seeking the assurance of the highest court of the land that when the Constitution guaranteed us, the people of Pakistan, certain fundamental rights, those guarantees were meant to be enforced,” the PTI chairman concluded.