The Newspaper’s Staff Reporter – October 11, 2024
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) full bench adjourned a petition on Thursday challenging the notification that permits intelligence agencies to tap phone calls, pending a decision from the Islamabad High Court.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice Aalia Neelum and including Justices Syed Shahbaz Ali Rizvi and Farooq Haider, heard the petition filed by the Judicial Activism Panel (JAP).
During the proceedings, JAP Chairman Advocate Azhar Siddique argued that the government had issued a notification allowing phone tapping by intelligence agencies. A government lawyer informed the bench that a similar case was currently under consideration in the Islamabad High Court. The bench expressed concerns about the potential for differing rulings from the two high courts regarding the same issue, leading them to postpone the case until the Islamabad High Court reaches a decision.
In a related matter, Chief Justice Aalia Neelum reserved the verdict on the maintainability of a petition seeking the official publication of the government’s proposed constitutional package. The petition was brought to the court as an objection case due to issues raised by the registrar’s office concerning its maintainability.
An additional attorney general stated that there is currently no draft of the constitutional amendment available and that consultations among political parties are ongoing. He questioned whether the federal government should be required to make these consultations public.
The law officer argued that the relief sought by the petitioner was confusing and that the draft constitutional amendment had yet to be presented to the cabinet for approval. He urged the court to uphold the registrar’s office objection and dismiss the petition on the grounds of lack of maintainability.
The petitioner contended that while the government was advocating for the constitutional package, it was unwilling to publish it for public consultation. He requested that the court order the government to publish the draft on the Ministry of Law’s website for an eight-week public consultation period prior to its presentation in the assembly.
After hearing the arguments, the chief justice reserved the verdict on the maintainability of the petition.
