ISLAMABAD: Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of the Supreme Court has expressed concerns over the “ambiguous” nature of the current law that permits phone tapping, as the court’s constitutional bench heard a case on the issue on Wednesday.
In July, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication authorized Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to intercept and trace phone calls for “national security” purposes.
This authorization was issued under Section 54 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996, but it was immediately challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC).
The case was heard by a seven-member bench led by Justice Aminuddin Khan. At the start of the proceedings, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar asked whether any specific legislation had been enacted to regulate phone tapping.
In response, Additional Attorney General Aamir Rehman informed the bench that the law authorizing phone tapping had been in place since 2013, and that it includes provisions for judicial oversight of the process. “The law designates the ISI and the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for phone tapping, and a procedure with judicial supervision is part of the law,” Rehman explained.
However, Justice Mazhar questioned whether a designated judge had been appointed to approve phone tapping requests, pointing out that under the law, only a judge can authorize such actions. “Has any judge been assigned to this task?” he asked, suggesting that the law did not allow indiscriminate tapping.
Justice Mandokhail concurred, calling the phone tapping law “ambiguous,” and stressing that it could have far-reaching implications for ongoing cases. “The phone tapping issue also impacts other pending cases. How can the chief justice navigate this situation?” he questioned.
Justice Aminuddin Khan added that the court was not concerned with legal reports or theoretical discussions but was focused on finding concrete outcomes. The bench then noted that it had not been informed about the appointment of any judge to oversee the phone tapping process.
The court also heard that the petitioner’s lawyer had passed away the previous year, and no contact had been made with the petitioner, Major Shabbir. Following these discussions, the court issued a notice to the advocate general and dismissed the hearing for the day.
This case follows a similar situation in December when the Islamabad High Court (IHC) was informed that no intelligence agency had been authorized by the government to intercept audio conversations. This revelation came during a case filed by Bushra Bibi, wife of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, over a leaked conversation involving her and PTI leader Latif Khosa.
