Govt to conduct forensic audit of Shaukat Tarin's leaked audio

• Law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar says action will be taken according to law after forensic report is released.
• "Tarin did not obey his oath and attempted to prioritise politics over the state," he says. 
• Law minister hopes court will make just decision. 

The federal government on Wednesday decided to conduct a forensic audit of the leaked audio call between former finance minister Shaukat Tarin and Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's finance ministers. 

Tarin's audio came to the fore on August 29 during which he could be heard directing Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra to cite recent floods as a core reason for withdrawing from International Monetary Fund's (IMF) deal.

Law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said that action will be taken according to the law once the forensic report is released. 

"Tarin did not obey his oath and attempted to prioritise politics over the state," said Tarar, adding that this case falls under the category of "rebellion against the state."

The minister said that the consultation is being carried out at the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Law regarding the audio leak. 

Talking about PTI chairperson Imran Khan's terrorism case, Tarar said that a person guilty of contempt of court cannot be released without punishment. "Those who commit contempt of court and are not ashamed of doing so have never gotten away from punishment," he added. 

He continued to say that he respects the court's sanctity and that lawyers raised their voices after the justice system and its sanctity was attacked. "Lawyers have always played a role in ensuring rule of law," he said, adding that former interior minister Talal Chaudhry, former privatisation minister Daniyal Aziz and former member of the senate Nihal Hashmi were punished for contempt of court. 

The PML-N leader said that laws must be implemented to ensure that Imran Khan is not being favoured. 

"Female members of the Bar Association's said such language was never tolerated in the past," said Tarar. 

He added that the Constitution tells us to apply the law to everyone equally and the same will happen in the case, hoping that the court will make a just decision. 

The law minister said that it was surprising to know that Khan said he did not know that Judge Zeba Chaudhry was a session judge and not a magistrate. "You [Khan] should not speak on something if you have no knowledge about it," he criticised.