The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) informed the Islamabad High Court on Friday that while the federal government holds the prerogative to authorise phone tapping for reasons of national security or crime prevention, the regulator itself lacks the authority to do so independently.

IHC’s Justice Babar Sattar was hearing the petitions filed by PTI founding chairman Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and Najamul Saqib, son of former chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, over their purported audio leak.

The judge remarked that there was no problem in the federal government allowing legal interception for national security.

However, he pointed out that the federal government had denied giving any permission for legal interception.

The judge inquired whether or not telecom operators could authorise any agency to record the calls without the permission of the federal government.

The court sought a written response on the matter.

The lawyer for the telecom operators said there was a legal interception clause in the licence policy of the PTA. They added that telecom operators were bound by PTA’s licence policy.

The court inquired whether or not there was any system of legal interception. The lawyers replied that the PTA had system in place but the key to it was with the federal government.

They continued that without the federal government’s permission, the system would remain untouched for the next 30 years.

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The lawyers contended that the telecom operators had no role in legal interception. They added that this matter was between the federal government, PTA and the relevant agency.

Pointing out that the federal government had denied giving permission for the legal interception, the judge inquired could the system be used without involving the telecom operators.

“Someone gets into your data stream and you don’t know about it?”

The additional attorney general told the court that the federal government had said in its report that access was not allowed to the extent of this audio call.

Justice Sattar observed that the attorney general for Pakistan had told the court that permission was not granted to anyone.

The judge remarked that he had been asking for eight months under which framework the government was operating.

“You are now saying that we were talking about this audio call,” he added.

Noting that four secretaries had submitted their affidavits, the judge warned that if anyone gave false statements to the court, they would have to bear the consequences.

Read: IB neither confirms, nor denies audio tapping

The PTA chairman told the court that 90% of cellular phones were infected with a virus and their cameras could also be operated.

He added that an Israeli company had created software that infected cellular phones. “It is not a difficult task. It only takes a minute to hack the mobile phone.”

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) chairman told the court that the Council of Complaints had become active and there was a meeting of the body on March 29. “It can warn the channel immediately under Section 27A.”

The lawyer for Pemra told the court that his client had issued instructions according to the decision of the IHC.

He added that Pemra could not take any action until the Council of Complaints issued an order.

Justice Sattar asked him what Pemra was waiting for when the unauthentic audio was leaked.

He added that nobody supported playing an uncertified audio.

The judge observed that private and unauthenticated content was a violation of privacy and also used for blackmailing.

The IHC adjourned the hearing by directing the lawyers of the telecom operators to submit a written report to the court till the next hearing.