ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court’s Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail has termed the existing law allowing spy agencies to tap phones “ambiguous”, saying that the case would also impact the pending cases.

The SC judge made these remarks during the hearing of the case, conducted by a seven-member constitutional bench yesterday. The incumbent government, in July 2024, gave a nod to the country’s premier spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to intercept and trace calls and messages in the apprehension of an offence against national security.

The notification, issued by the Ministry of Information Technology, said that the authorisation was granted to the ISI under Section 54 of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996. During yesterday’s hearing, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar who is part of the seven-member bench inquired whether any legislation was carried out regarding the phone tapping. Responding to the query, Additional Attorney General Amir Rehman said the law has been in place since 2013 and ISI and Intelligence Bureau (IB) were officially granted permission to tap phones. “The procedure for phone tapping is part of the law, and judicial supervision is also in the law,” he told the court. Justice Mazhar responded that as per the law, only a judge can permit phone tapping. “Has any judge been notified for this purpose?” he asked. The AAG replied he was not aware of the nomination of a judge in this regard. Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan told the AAG: “We are not interested in reports or the law, we want results.” Meanwhile, Justice Mandokhail termed the phone tapping law “ambiguous,” saying:

“The [phone tapping] case will also affect the pending cases. This matter started from the chief justice’s chamber, where will the chief justice go?” The advocate on record (AOR) noted that contact can’t be made with the petitioner, adding that his lawyer also passed away last year. The court issued a notice to the advocate general and adjourned the hearing. The federal government’s decision to allow phone tapping faced strong backlash from the opposition quarters and was challenged in the Lahore High Court (LHC).