LHC Justice Abid Aziz Shaikh turns down contempt petition against Rana Sanaullah

LAHORE, March 02 (SABAH): Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday turned down a petition seeking contempt proceedings against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan for allegedly scandalising the judiciary through an audio leak involving former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his lawyer.

LHC Justice Abid Aziz Shaikh issued a written verdict, stating that the petitioner did not provide any evidence and transcript of the leaked audio. It said the case was declared inadmissible as the petitioner was not victim in the case.

Judge had a few days ago reserved the verdict after hearing arguments of petitioner Shahid Rana who argued that the minister hurt the privacy of a lawyer and his client by leaking the audio. He said contempt proceedings should be initiated against him for “ridiculing” judiciary and taking unconstitutional step.

During the hearing, the judge had remarked that the Supreme Court was also looking into the matter and inquired if forensic examination of the audio had been conducted. When petitioner said the interior minister attempted to defame the judiciary, Justice Shaikh remarked: “Now, you don’t need to worry. We will handle it”. On Feb 16, Rana Sanaullah in a press conference run an audio tape of an alleged conversation between Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his counsel, Supreme Court Bar Association President Abid Shahid Zuberi. The minister claimed that the former chief minister wanted to get a case fixed before his favourite judge in a bid to get desirable verdict.