The Pakistan Bar Council on Thursday moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and challenged the government’s notification granting the ISI permission to tap citizens’ phones.
According to the media, six members of the Pakistan Bar Council have filed the petition in the Islamabad High Court, naming the Secretary of IT, the Secretary of Defence, the Secretary of Interior, and the PTA as respondents.
The Pakistan Bar Council members, including Shafqat Mahmood Chauhan, Abid Zuberi, Chaudhry Ishtiaq, Munir Ahmed Kakar, Tahir Faraz Abbasi, and Abid Saqi have filed this petition.
The petitioners argue that the notification issued under Section 54 of the Telecommunication Act is illegal. They state that the Fair Trial Act 2013 provides a complete mechanism for such matters, and request that the notification granting the intelligence agency permission to tap phones be declared illegal and nullified.
The petition also requests that the notification be suspended until a final verdict on the petition.
PETITION IN LAHORE HIGH COURT
A day earlier, a citizen Citizen Fahad Shabbir has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC), challenging the federal government’s notification allowing the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to tap and intercept phones of citizens.
Fahad Shabbir filed the petition in the LHC through Advocate Nadeem Sarwar, making the prime minister, the federal government and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as respondents.
The petition argues that the government of Pakistan has issued a notification allowing the ISI to tap citizens’ phones under Section 54 of PTA Act 1996 but the rules have not been devised under which the notification has been issued.
The petitioner contends that the constitution allows the privacy and freedom of speech to citizens. And phone tapping is a clear-cut violation of the constitution according to the Indian Supreme Court, he argues.
The petitioner requests the court to declare the government notification of intercepting and recording calls and messages by ISI or other agencies as illegal and annual the notification until final verdict on the plea.
He also pleads that the court direct the government to devise rules of PTA Act Section 54.
ISI PERMITTED TO TAP PHONES
The country’s premier spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was mandated by the federal government to intercept and trace phone calls and messages due to perceived threats to national security on Tuesday.
This development coincides with ongoing court proceedings concerning petitions challenging alleged audio leaks involving former prime minister Imran Khan’s spouse Bushra Bibi and son of former chief justice Saqib Nisar.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the matter of phone tapping was passing through the legal stages. He said it had become necessary in view of national security and its importance had increased in the war the state had renewed against terrorism.
PTI TO MOVE SUPREME COURT AGAINST DECISION
Following the federal government decision, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said it will move the Supreme Court to challenge the notification, saying “no one’s privacy should be breached.”
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali said the constitution clearly addresses the issue of phone tapping. He emphasises that it is clear that no one’s privacy should be breached.
Speaking to the media at the Parliament House, he noted that while the Supreme Court had set parameters for placing criminal elements under surveillance, the notice issued by the government was a violation of the Constitution.
