LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has rejected a petition seeking contempt proceedings against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan for allegedly scandalising the judiciary through an audio leak.
The audio involved former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his lawyer. In a written verdict, Justice Abid Aziz Shaikh said that the petitioner did not provide any evidence or transcript of the conversation.
The case was declared inadmissible as the petitioner was not a victim in the case.
During the hearing, the judge had remarked the Supreme Court was also looking into the matter and inquired if a forensic examination of the audio had been conducted. When the petitioner said the interior minister attempted to defame the judiciary, Justice Shaikh remarked: “Now, you don’t need to worry. We will handle it.”
On February 16, Khan in a press conference ran an audio tape of an alleged conversation between Elahi and his counsel, Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Abid Shahid Zuberi. The minister claimed the former chief minister wanted to get a case fixed before his “favourite judge” to get a desirable verdict.
He also appealed to Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial to take notice of the purported audio. He also demanded the forensic test of the leaked audio tape.
“If the former Punjab CM is found guilty after the forensic, then the matter should be presented before the judicial committee,” he remarked.
