LAHORE - Terming the audio leak involving former Chief Justice of Supreme Court and PTI lawyer Khawaja Tariq Raheem a serious matter, Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar on Tuesday called for forensic audit of the audio to ascertain the veracity of the conversation. Addressing a press conference along with Special Assistant to Prime Minister Malik Ahmed Khan here, the law minister said that the audio leak had raised questions as various political matters and cases pending in the courts had been discussed in the audio tape. “The conversation in the audio leak is aimed to create rifts among the institutions and to further deepen the prevailing crisis”, he maintained, adding that the country was passing through a tough situation and the purported conversation had the potential to further intensify it. Azam Tarar further stated that matters pertaining to the future were discussed during the phone call which has strengthened the perception that ousting of an elected prime minister of the PML-N in 2016-17 was also a pre-planned move.
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To a question, the law minister said that some elements wanted to see the government in contempt of court, but the government did nothing which came into the purview of contempt of court. To another query regarding the audio leak, he said that it was an era of information technology and anything could come out. “It is not a matter of Pakistan only as it happens everywhere in the world”, he added. Azam Tarar said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz believed in the supremacy of law and the Constitution and wanted transparency in all matters as it was utmost necessary for ensuring rule of law in the country. He said that peoples’ confidence in the national institutions could be ensured through transparency. The law minister further stated that Parliament being the legislature and supreme institution of the country was mandated to make legislation as per the Constitution. He added that Practice and Procedure Act was passed by the upper and lower houses of the Parliament by using its constitutional right, however, a ruling was given to stop the act before its imposition.
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He said the Parliament and the political fora were the right place to discuss political matters. In the past, courts had tried to avoid questions being raised on political matters, Tarar said, adding when political matters were taken to court, it only harmed the country and the nation. SAPM Malik Ahmed Khan said that references should be filed against the judges mentioned in the audio leaks. He also demanded of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of the leaks. He also said that interpretation of the Constitution was a right and duty of the courts, however, they could not rewrite the Constitution. He alleged that various powers were abundantly misused in the courts including the suo motu powers particularly in political matters. He said the PML-N was never afraid of going into elections, however, it wanted a level playing field for everyone so that no one could raise questions over the conduct of elections and their transparency.
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He said a ruling was given for conducting elections in the Punjab province in 90 days, whereas, the matter of elections in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was set aside. The SAPM said that conspiracies were being hatched against the PML-N government from day one. There should prevail sanity and political discourse in the country to take things forward as the parliament was a supreme institution, he added. Responding to a question, Malik Ahmed Khan said that under the article 18 of the Constitution, it was the responsibility of the Election Commission of Pakistan to conduct elections and they had to ensure implementation over it. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar had gone too far in former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s enmity. Asif’s comments came after an audio clip involving Nisar and Kh Tariq Raheem leaked on Twitter, which the minister said caused him “great pain”.
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The minister also claimed that Nisar made baseless statements about Nawaz and his brother Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, 14 or 15 years ago, which he said he could refute in the media with the truth. He, however, did not elaborate on the statements any further. Addressing Nisar directly, Kh Asif said, “You have taken revenge from Nawaz Sharif and imposed punishment on him. How long will you continue to harbour this poison?”