Alleged audio of Saqib Nisar: ‘US firm confident of tape’s integrity’

ISLAMABAD: The US firm which carried out the forensic analysis of the audio clip attributed to the former chief justice Saqib Nisar is “confident of the integrity of the audio file”, according to the journalist who revealed the bombshell audio.

The alleged audio clip of former chief justice Saqib Nisar has triggered an intense debate among the political circles with Opposition parties demanding a thorough investigation into the matter.

The government, however, has termed it a conspiracy against the judiciary and blamed the PML-N leadership for using dirty tactics against the institutions.

Ahmad Noorani, the journalist who broke the story, tweeted on Monday saying; “Each and every word said by any person can be found out in one’s previous speeches and talks. I have released the forensic report of audio by a credible organisation. The only way to reject it is to come up with a forensic report of the audio I have released and prove it wrong.”

He told a web programme that he had the tape for over two months and took every possible precaution to get it examined by the experts to rule out forgery.

Noorani said Garret Discovery, a leading American firm specializing in multimedia forensics, examined the tape.

He said the audio tape was released only after the firm’s experts were confident of the integrity of the audio file and gave a go-ahead saying “the audio has not been edited in any way.”

‘Campaign started in haste’

Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry is of the view that the "campaign" against judges started in a "haste", indicating that the people did not do their homework properly.

Chaudhry shared a video of ex-chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar Monday, in which he was saying: "Unfortunately, let me be a little blunt about it, let me be frank about it, let me be not aggressive, [but] loud about it."

"Unfortunately, the orders that we are receiving are according to [some people's] wishes," the former CJP had said in the video.

In the video, ex-CJP could be heard uttering some words which were also mentioned in the viral video.

The information minister, sharing the former top judge's old video, indicated that "the audio in the viral video must have been taken from the older video."

In the tweet, the information minister had said: "It seems like preparations for the campaign against judges were done hastily. All the characters behind this campaign are known."

Chaudhry hoped that the courts would "not go easy in the matter" and would "ensure its logical conclusion."

However, when the minister asked about the complete contents of the leaked audio which were not in the video he did not answer.

PML-N, ANP demand probe

While talking to Goe News, senior PML-N leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the party was not behind the audio and demanded an impartial inquiry into it.

“We are ready to face the consequences if the probe finds out that it is a conspiracy,” he said.

Abbasi said the Supreme Court should take suo moto notice of it.

Another major opposition party, Awami National Party (ANP) has said the chief justice of Pakistan should take notice of the alleged audiotape leak of former chief justice Saqib Nisar and deal with the issue as per the law.

Addressing a news conference at the Bacha Khan Markaz on Monday, ANP central secretary general Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the alleged leaked conversation of former chief justice had exposed the pre-poll rigging by helping a puppet to assume power as prime minister before the 2018 general elections in the country.

“A judge who had declared a politician Sadiq (truthful) and Amin (honest) in his judgement has been exposed to the public in his audiotape in which he says that Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz must be punished before the general elections,” Mian Iftikhar alleged.

Leaked audio

An audio clip allegedly featuring Nisar was leaked online in which a man could be heard telling another person that Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz "would have to be punished to make space for Imran Khan in politics."

Nisar, on Sunday, had denied the authenticity of the audio clip, terming it "fabricated".

In the audio clip, the man could be heard saying that "even though there are no cases against Maryam Nawaz, she would still have to be punished."

Speaking to Geo News, Nisar refused to accept that it was his voice and termed it fabricated. "The audio clip is being falsely associated with me," he stated.

When asked if he would take legal action against the audio clip being associated with him, Nisar said he is thinking about "which legal option to go with."

When the audio was initially leaked, Nisar had said that the report was "contrary to facts" and had categorically denied that he had ever directed any of his subordinate judges in connection with any judicial order whether it pertained to Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, or anyone else.