Saqib Nisar’s audio file: ‘US firm confident of tape’s integrity’

ISLAMABAD: Social media warriors are still battling over the content and intent of the alleged audio clip of former chief justice Saqib Nisar released by a US-based digital media platform almost sixty hours ago.

There is a growing demand by netizens for an independent inquiry preferably led by the judiciary itself to clear its name after ascertaining the content of the tape and bipartisan examination of related incidents involving judicial officers who have dealt with the cases of the dismissal of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s government.

Opinions abound in equal numbers that consider the releasing of the tape and the subsequent pressure on judiciary is deliberately orchestrated by Nawaz Sharif and his supporters. With government ministers and advisors jumping into the fray siding with the former chief judge, the pro-government social media activists have raised questions about the veracity of the tape and its contents.

Ahmad Noorani, the journalist who broke the story, tweeted on Monday saying; “Each and every word said by any person can be found out in one’s previous speeches and talks. I have released the forensic report of audio by a credible organisation. The only way to reject it is to come up with a forensic report of the audio I have released and prove it wrong.”

He told a web programme Monday night that he had the tape for over two months and took every possible precaution to get it examined by the experts to rule out forgery. 

Noorani said Garret Discovery, a leading American firm specializing in multimedia forensics, examined the tape. He said the audio-tape was released only after the firm’s experts were confident of the integrity of the audio file and gave a go-ahead saying “the audio has not been edited in any way.”