LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has reserved its verdict on a petition seeking contempt proceedings against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan for allegedly scandalising the judiciary through an audio leak involving former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and his lawyer.
The petition was filed by Shahid Rana, who argued the minister had hurt the privacy of a lawyer and his client by leaking the audio and therefore should be held in contempt for “ridiculing” the judiciary and taking unconstitutional steps.
Justice Abid Aziz Shaikh reserved the verdict after hearing arguments from both sides.
During the hearing, the judge inquired if a forensic examination of the audio had been conducted and noted that the Supreme Court was also looking into the matter.
The petitioner alleged the interior minister attempted to defame the judiciary, to which Justice Shaikh replied: “Now, you don’t need to worry. We will handle it.”
On February 16, Khan had played an audio tape of an alleged conversation between Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and his counsel, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Abid Shahid Zuberi, during a press conference.
The minister claimed that the former chief minister wanted to influence a case before his favourite judge in a bid to obtain a favourable verdict.
Khan has since urged the chief justice to take notice of Elahi’s alleged audio. The LHC’s verdict on the contempt petition is still pending.
