PTI urges LHC to form judicial commission on audio leaks

• PTI leader Dr Yasmin Rashid filed a petition in Lahore High Court
• She urged the court to form a judicial commission to conduct an inquiry
• She also asked the court to strop airing the leaks on mainstream media

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has approached the Lahore High Court to conduct an inquiry into the alleged audio leaks of its political leadership

PTI leader Dr Yasmin Rashid filed an application in court through her lawyer Advocate Rana Mudasir seeking the formation of a judicial commission to probe the audio and video leaks.

The federal government, defence secretary and the interior secretary have been made respondents in the petition along the Punjab chief secretary, and Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The petition states that audio and videos tapes of senior PTI leaders have been leaked to defame their character. It stated that the audio leaks are a gross violation of right to privacy and fundamental human rights.

The petition further added these “acts seem as a personal attack and infringement of constitutional rights of freedom of thoughts, speech, and right to dignity and privacy” and “amount to threaten and undermine the constitutional dispensation of rule of law, democracy, democratic institutions.”

The petitioner said that audio and videos of the political leadership are been shown in public. It added that courts can approached to take action against the violations.

The LHC has been requested to form a judicial commission comprising senior judges to probe issue, It also urged to pass orders and instructed PEMRA and PTA from airing the alleged audio leaks.

The plea will be taken up for hearing on Monday. It must mentioned that Dr Yasmin Rashid was also a victim of the audio leaks scandal after her phone conversation with the former CCPO Ghulam Mehmood Dogar was released on social media.

In the leaked audio, the PTI leader is speaking to the police officer asking if he had received the posting orders after he was reinstated as the Lahore CCPO by a Supreme Court bench. The police officer replied that he had received no orders.

Earlier this week, PTI Chairman Imran Khan had also written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial and other judges on the issue of audio and video leaks.

He requested the court to immediately hear the constitutional petition filed in October last year for steps for protection under Article 14 (fundamental right to privacy) in connection with a series of private telephonic conversations of political leaders that have surfaced online over the past few months.