Registrar’s objections: Imran asks SC to fix his chamber appeal on 8th

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan Monday requested the Supreme Court (SC) to fix on March 8 his chamber appeal against the objections of the apex court registrar on his petition, seeking investigation into the audio leaks matter.

Last year in October, the PTI chairman had filed a petition in the apex court under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, praying for constituting a joint investigation team (JIT) or a commission for undertaking a detailed probe and investigation into the illegal surveillance, recording, retention, custody and release/ leaking of the surveillance data, with directions to determine the authenticity of the audio leaks.

He had made the federation of Pakistan, through secretary Ministry of Interior, secretary Ministry of Defence, secretary Ministry of Information, Technology and Telecommunication, secretary Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Intelligence Bureau, through its director general, Federal Investigation Agency, through its director general, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), through its chairman, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, through its chairman, and inspector general of police (IGP) as respondents.

The PTI chairman had prayed to the apex court to issue a continuing mandamus to supervise the whole process so as to ensure that the JIT or commission completes its task in a satisfactory manner, the illegal surveillance is put to a permanent end, the surveillance data i identified, retrieved, secured and then destroyed, if need be, and appropriate action taken against the culprits.

The SC registrar office, however, had returned the petition after raising objections over it. Later on, the PTI chairman filed a chamber appeal against the objections of registrar office. On Monday, he filed a civil miscellaneous application (CMA), requesting for fixing his chamber appeal on March 8. He submitted that he had earlier filed chamber appeal against the Registrar objections which was not yet fixed for hearing.

On February 20, Imran Khan had also written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Umer Ata Bandial and all judges of the apex court, seeking 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,” he wrote. He had 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 had not yet been fixed for hearing by the apex court.