ISLAMABAD: Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan on Wednesday apprised the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that the federal government had not allowed any intelligence agency, including the Inter-Services Intelligence, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB), to tap audio conversations.
During the hearing of the plea filed by former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi against an alleged leaked audio conversation between her and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) counsel Latif Khosa, the attorney general said the report of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) regarding the audio leak was submitted to the court.
IHC Justice Babar Sattar said the ISI in its report stated it couldn't trace the source of the audio leaks.
The AGP said the FIA had to first find out who recorded the call. Following the court orders, the FIA was writing to telecom companies as it required access to those IP addresses, he said. “If any government agency is recording this, it is doing so illegally,” he maintained.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) lawyer said audio leaks of private conversations could not be broadcast by TV channels. At this, the court asked what action the PEMRA was taking on the matter.
To which, the counsel apprised the bench that TV channels would not air this kind of audio. "We have sent the matter to the Council of Complaints, they will decide,” the PEMRA lawyer added.
Justice Babar Sattar asked whether the PEMRA was effectively functioning as a regulator. He further asked if the authority had issued urgent instructions to the TV channels. “So, you are saying that you cannot take immediate action, the matter will go to the Council of Complaints,” the court remarked.
The alleged audio conversation between Bushra Bibi and his counsel Latif Khosa that surfaced on November 30 on social media suggested that there were differences in the incarcerated former prime minister’s family.
Latif Khosa said not once but for the entire day the TV channels continued to broadcast the audio and termed the act as "derogatory".
The court observed that on the one hand, there was freedom of information and on the other was the matter of privacy, and how it could be balanced. However, Justice Babar said, it was the responsibility of the state to ensure both.
Counsel Aitzaz Ahsan said there should be self-regularisation, but here even the Constitution was not implemented. He cited the delay in polls as an example.
The court, quoting a news report, asked the attorney general to check if IB was given the authority to record calls. The AGP replied he would look into it and apprise the court.
The IHC directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to submit a detailed report at the next hearing. If the government didn't come up with the required information then the court would appoint national and international amici curiae for the purpose, it said.
Ordering the FIA and other institutions to submit their replies, the court adjourned the hearing. “Whoever comes, he says there is no permission to tap calls. Nobody is telling who is doing it and why,” he said.
The court also decided to appoint senior journalists as amici curiae on the matter related to the code of conduct of TV channels.
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