ISLAMABAD: A special committee of the National Assembly has directed the Interior Ministry to conduct a forensic audit of the purported audio leak of former chief justice Saqib Nisar’s son.
Committee Chairman Aslam Bhootani says the final decision to summon the people associated with the leak would be taken in the committee’s in-camera meeting on May 12.
The committee also decided to seek the opinion of the law minister before providing the parliamentary record to the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has not been provided the record of parliament’s debate on the practice and procedure law despite court orders for today.
Even the attorney general’s office did not get the record of the parliamentary proceedings on the debate on the legislation.
The Supreme Court had ordered the government to present the record till today. The AGP had assured the court of providing the record today.
The committee decided to summon former CJP Saqib Nisar, his son Najam Saqib and the PTI ticket holder featuring in the audio leak. It also decided to call an in-camera session of the committee on May 12.
“Summon notices will be issued to the individuals after consultations during the in-camera meeting,” Bhootani said.
The additional director general of the Federal Investigation Agency told the committee they can conduct the forensic analysis of the audio leak in seven to 10 days, adding the analysis could only be conducted on written orders of the Law Ministry.
He said the committee has 15 days to submit its report in the audio leaks probe, adding if a financial transaction is confirmed after the audio leak’s verification, they will suggest action.
The members expressed annoyance of the absence of the law minister. It was decided to summon the minister before taking a decision on submitting the parliamentary record to the Supreme Court on the debate on the judicial reforms law.
Aslam Bhootani said the attorney general and the SC registrar have sought the record. Rohail Asghar said the record is the property of the parliament.
He further said if the SC wants this record, it should submit its own record to parliament as well.
The committee chairman said the decision to summon the SC registrar or submit the parliamentary record to the court will only be taken on the law minister’s advice.
Bhootani said a letter has been written to the National Assembly speaker for provision of the record, adding the proceedings of the legislature and its committees are a property of the National Assembly.
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