The federal government has filed a petition before the Supreme Court of Pakistan asking Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar to recuse themselves from the bench that is hearing a case about the audio leaks commission.

The commission under Justice Qazi Faez Isa was formed by the federal government under the inquiry commission act. However, senior lawyers challenged the commission before the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the account that it had been created without consulting the CJP.

A five-member larger bench barred the commission from probing the leaks on May 26.

Justice Shahid Wahid and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi are the two other judges on the bench.

In its petition against including the three judges on the larger bench, the government has said that one of the leaked audios sent to the commission had been linked to the mother-in-law of CJP Bandial. Under the code of conduct for judges, a judge cannot hear a case that involves the interest of his or her relatives, said the petition which cited the case of former CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry who had recused himself from the bench in the Arslan Iftikhar case.

The petition said that objections were raised on the presence of CJP on the bench during the May 26 hearing but the court did not entertain them.

The government has also sought reconstitution of the larger bench before the next hearing which is set for Wednesday (tomorrow).