ISLAMABAD: On Monday, the Islamabad High Court dismissed the petitions of three government departments concerning the bench hearing the issue of the audio leaks, and fined them each Rs 500,000.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) could potentially face contempt of court charges, as the court hinted.
The three departments mentioned earlier filed separate petitions, and the Intelligence Bureau’s Joint Director General Tariq Mehmood has been asked by the court to appear at the case’s next hearing.
In the audio leaks case, at least four government agencies submitted independent motions to the IHC asking that the case be heard by the same court bench that has previously resolved a related case.
The petitions of Bushra Bibi, the wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan, and Najamul Saqib, the son of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, should also be brought before the bench that decided the same case in 2021, according to the applicants. They ask for Justice Babar Sattar’s recusal in order to prevent a different ruling.
Following the matter’s discovery in 2023, Justice Sattar had been hearing the aforementioned petitions.
