Audio leaks: LHC waits judgement on whether the contempt complaint against Rana Sanaullah is admissible.

LAHORE – On Monday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) reserved judgement on a petition that asked for contempt charges to be brought against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah for allegedly embarrassing the judiciary by leaking an audio recording involving the former chief minister of Punjab Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his attorney.

After hearing the petitioner Shahid Rana’s claims that the minister violated the privacy of a lawyer and his client by disclosing the tape, LHC Judge Abid Aziz Shaikh deferred the decision. He said that he should face contempt charges for “ridiculing” the court and acting in an illegal manner.

The judge questioned if a forensic analysis of the audio had been done during the hearing and said that the Supreme Court was also looking into the situation. Judge Shaikh added, “Today, you don’t need to fear. The interior minister did not try to malign the court. We’ll take care of it.

Rana Sanaullah requests that the CJP pay attention to the supposed audio of Parvez Elahi.

On February 16, Mr. Sanaullah played an audio recording of what he claimed to be a discussion between Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and his lawyer, Supreme Court Bar Association President Abid Shahid Zuberi, at a news conference. The minister said that the previous chief minister sought to have a case heard by his preferred judge in order to get a favourable decision.

He also urged Justice Umar Ata Bandial, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), to pay attention to an alleged audio recording of the former chief minister of Punjab, Parvez Elahi. He also sought a forensic examination of the allegedly leaked audio recording from the former CM. “The subject should be put before the judicial committee if the former Punjab CM is found guilty after the forensic,” he said.