While the storm over Saqib Nisar’s leaked audio continues to grow, former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi suggested on Tuesday that the contents in the audio did not break any laws.
Speaking to Asma Shirazi in Aaj’s program Faisla Aap Ka Abbasi said that both of the people in the audio leak do not hold any official positions so whatever words were exchanged cannot be considered to be an offense.
He said that the contents of the audio did not seem appropriate, but recording phone calls will bring harm to everyone.
Audio of a call between former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and PTI’s lawyer Khawaja Tariq had leaked on Tuesday, in which the former judge could be heard giving the lawyer advice about a contempt case that could be used in the current situation.
Speaking about the election delay case, Abbasi said that the matter could have been resolved properly if a fullcourt bench had been made and none of the current controversy over bench formation would have resulted. However, it seems the bench itself has become a party to the case.
He also raised the question that if elections were fixed on October 8 through a consensus of all parties, where would it leave the judgement of the Supreme Court and what would become of the law.
Answering a question about the tension between the government and the Supreme Court over election funding, Abbasi said that decisions are taken by the entire cabinet so the court would have to start contempt proceedings against the entire cabinet if things went that way.
Abbasi also said that the court should be mindful of where its jurisdiction begins and where it ends and keep in mind that the court had come into existence based on the constitution that was prepared by the parliament.
He also said that the current state of the country had surpassed the level of crises that have been used as an excuse to impose martial law in the past, and the threat looms over Pakistan once again.
He echoed Finanace Minister Ishaq Dar to say that most IMF conditions had been met, but added that it seemed that the Fund was unable to understand ground realities in Pakistan which is why it was surprising that very little progress had been made.
Abbasi is part of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz which is currently the largest party in the ruling coalition. However, he has not taken up a post in the government and has instead been a part of the ‘Reimagining Pakistan’ forum which seeks to find a new solution to Pakistan’s problems.
