ISLAMABAD: The audio leaks continue to spill the beans as the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf steps up its legal battle to rescue Imran Khan in various cases.

Following the Supreme Court’s hearing on the PTI chief’s arrest in the Al Qadir Trust case, two lea­ked audio calls have been released to social media and aired by the mainstream electronic media.

A leaked call apparently recorded on Tuesday (May 9), after the arrest of Mr Khan, purportedly records him as talking to Musarrat Jamshed Chee­ma, a PTI leader, and asking her about “the situation” in the courtroom of the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) chief justice after his arrest.

Mr Khan apparently told Musarrat Cheema to ask party leader Azam Swati to take up the matter with the Supreme Court.

The PTI chief criticises the chief justice for taking orders from ‘them’.

PTI leader Hammad Azhar confirmed the authenticity of the leaked conversation. He said Mr Khan was referring to the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court.

He, however, said the “real issue” is the supremacy of the Constitution.

In another leaked audio call between the head of PTI’s legal team, Khawaja Tariq Rahim, and journalist Abdul Qayyum Siddiqui, the former purportedly told the latter that the Supreme Court would send the case to the IHC for Friday.

He said the IHC Chief Justice would recuse himself from hearing the case as the PTI lawyer would raise objections against him.

The case would then be marked to Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and he would grant bail to Mr Khan, Tariq Rahim apparently told Qayyum Siddiqui.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2023