ISLAMABAD: Terming the existing law allowing spy agencies to tap phones “ambiguous”, Supreme Court’s Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail has said that the case would also impact the pending cases.
A seven-member constitutional bench, headed by Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan, heard the case related to phone tapping on Wednesday.
The incumbent government, in July 2024, gave a nod to the country’s premier spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to intercept and trace calls and messages in the apprehension of an offence against national security.
The notification, issued by the Ministry of Information Technology, said that the authorisation was granted to the ISI under Section 54 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996.
During today’s hearing, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar — who is part of the seven-member bench — inquired whether any legislation was carried out regarding the phone tapping.
Responding to the query, Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman said the law has been in place since 2013 and ISI and Intelligence Bureau (IB) were officially granted permission to tap phones. “The procedure for phone tapping is part of the law, and judicial supervision is also in the law,” he told the court.
Justice Mazhar responded that as per the law, only a judge can permit phone tapping. “Has any judge been notified for this purpose?” he asked. The AAG replied he was not aware of the nomination of a judge in this regard.
Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan told the AAG: “We are not interested in reports or the law, we want results.”
Meanwhile, Justice Mandokhail termed the phone tapping law “ambiguous,” saying: “The [phone tapping] case will also affect the pending cases. This matter started from the chief justice’s chamber, where will the chief justice go?”
The advocate on record (AOR) noted that contact can’t be made with the petitioner, adding that his lawyer also passed away last year. The court issued a notice to the advocate general and adjourned the hearing.
The federal government’s decision to allow phone tapping faced strong backlash from the opposition quarters and was challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Earlier in August, the apex court accepted a federal government’s appeal in a case related to audio leaks of Bushra Bibi, spouse of PTI founder Imran Khan and Najamul Saqib, son of former chief justice Mian Saqib Nisar and ordered the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to stop proceedings till further orders.
During the hearing, the AAG had apprised the court that the intelligence agencies were unable to perform counterintelligence due to the IHC’s ruling. He added that the high court exceeded its jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution in contradiction to the top court’s two verdicts.
It is worth mentioning that on May 29, IHC’s Justice Babar Sattar barred telecom companies from recording phone calls and data which disabled the intelligence and law enforcement agencies’ surveillance against criminals and terrorists.
