ISLAMABAD: Justice Babar Sattar of the Islam­abad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday summoned the secretaries of defence and interior and extended the stay order on an inquiry against the son of former chief justice Saqib Nisar for allegedly asking reward from a candidate in return for a PTI ticket.

Justice Sattar was hearing the petition filed by Mr Nisar’s son, Najam Saqib. An NA committee was tasked with investigating Mr Najam’s purported audio leak, in which a voice said to be his could be heard demanding a reward from a PTI leader for securing him the party ticket to contest polls in Punjab.

In his petition, Mr Najam requested the court to stop the proceedings of the parliamentary panel headed by MNA Aslam Bhootani, arguing that the body was formed in violation of NA rules.

He said the audio leak was a result of “illegal surveillance of the petitioner’s privacy, which can neither be disseminated nor be used for incriminating the petitioner”.

Citing the evidential value of such leaks, he said that any document or audio leak “cannot be used in any trial or inquiry” unless it was clear who recorded it or for what purpose.

The court extended the restraining order until Dec 18.

Justice Sattar adjou­r­ned the hearing at the re­­quest of Additional Attor­ney General Barrister Munawar Iqbal Duggal.

Justice Sattar questio­n­­ed the mechanism for surveillance and protection of this information and exp­r­e­s­­sed concerns that the PM House was also unsafe and the data was leaked from there.

He summoned defence and interior secretaries in the next hearing and said the court would dire­­ct cellular companies to file an affidavit if required.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2023