Phone calls recording within legal framework, IHC told

ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) does not interfere in the sensitive day-to-day working of intelligence agencies or in their key functions in view of the national interest. However, a legal framework to record telephonic conversations of citizens is available, the principal secretary to the PM submitted before the Islamabad High Court on Monday.

The caretaker PM’s principal secretary, Dr Syed Tauqir Shah, filed a written response to the questions asked by the IHC hearing the audio leaks case, stating that the PMO expects the intelligence agencies to work under the Constitution and law, in the public interest.

On the court’s question about which intelligence agency has the technological capacity to record and surveil telecommunication, the principal secretary’s reply read that to go into operational details and working of agencies would not be in the interest of national security and the role these are playing for safeguarding the country from external and internal threats.

It added the Investigation for Fair Trial Act 2013 provides a mechanism for grant of permission to record telephone conversations between citizens, emphasising adopting safeguards to keep the confidentiality of such recording intact and prevent them from being leaked or used for extraneous purposes.

The reply said that the Telegraph Act 1885 also provides a mechanism topossess licensed telegraphs and intercept messages, with permission of the federal or the provincial government. It added that the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 contains a mechanism for preservation of confidentiality of data or record obtained.

On the question of what measures have been taken to fix responsibility in the audio leaks case, the principal secretary’s reply stated that these leaks are within the knowledge of the federal government and it has constituted a high-power commission, comprising senior judges, to inquire into the authenticity of the leaked conversations.

It is pertinent to mention that former prime minster Imran Khan’s spouse Bushra Bibi and former chief justice Saqib Nisar’s son Najamus Saqib had challenged summons from the Federal Investigation Agency and a parliamentary committee on the audio leaks. The court has set December 11 for a hearing after suspending notices for summoning the petitioners.