Saqib Nisar’s son moves IHC against NA summons over audio leaks

ISLAMABAD: Najam Saqib, son of former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar, has approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against a special committee formed by the National Assembly speaker to probe audio clips allegedly featuring his voice.

In the petition filed on Tuesday, Najam requested the court to suspend the proceedings of the committee and stop it from taking any punitive action. He contended that the alleged audios breached his privacy and it was illegal surveillance. He requested the court to declare that recording a private person’s personal conversation was a violation of basic human rights.

He said the committee formed by the NA speaker to probe the audios was illegal. The summons issued by the committee secretary without any meeting of the committee — asking Najam, his father and two other persons to appear in person — are also illegal, the petition claimed.

Najam said audios could only be presented as evidence in a trial or investigations when it was known who had recorded them and with what intention. The petitioner prayed to the court to declare the committee illegal.

The IHC registrar’s office, however, raised objections to the petition. It said the matter was already pending with the Supreme Court. The registrar also contended that two different types of pleas could not be made in a single petition. It said, on the one hand, the petitioner had challenged the notification of the committee while, on the other hand, he also requested the court to declare recording of audios as illegal.

Justice Babar Sattar will hear the petition along with the registrar office’s objections today (Wednesday).