The Islamabad High Court fined each of the three government departments Rs. 500,000 on Monday after dismissing their arguments against a bench trial over audio leaks.

The court may also hold the heads of the aforementioned departments—Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)—culpable for contempt.

In the audio leak case, four government agencies—the PEMRA, PTA, FIA, and Intelligence Bureau—filed separate petitions with the IHC, pleading for Justice Babar Sattar’s recusal and asking for the case to be heard by the same bench that has previously decided a case of a similar nature.

The petitioners contended that in order to prevent a different ruling, Justice Babar Sattar should recuse himself from the case that was decided in 2021. The petitions of Bushra Bibi, the wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan, and Najamul Saqib, the son of former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar, should also be brought before the same bench.

During the current hearing, Justice Sattar also issued a summons to IB Joint Director General Tariq Mehmood, directing him to come before the court for the case’s subsequent hearing.

Following the issue’s discovery in 2023, the judge has been considering the aforementioned petitions.

The government agencies contended in the petitions in the case before Justice Sattar that Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had already resolved on an analogous issue in 2021. Thus, in order to prevent a conflicting ruling and for the sake of justice, they asked the judge to recuse herself from the case.

The departments are requesting that Justice Sattar recuse himself after six IHC judges—among them, himself—complained in writing to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) about intelligence agencies interfering with the court’s decision.

On March 25, the judges called for the calling of a judicial convention to address the issue of purported meddling by intelligence agents in the judicial activities or “intimidation” of judges in a way that jeopardized the judiciary’s independence.

The market saw a bearish trend as it dropped more than 500 points, just hours after Pakistan’s Stock Exchange (PSX) reached a new milestone by reaching the 73,000 mark.

As compared to the previous close of 72,742.75 points, the KSE-100 index dropped to 72,177.22 points, or 565.52 points or 0.78% lower.
Expectations of an interest rate drop of up to 100 basis points during today’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, according to Intermarket Securities director of research CFA Muhammad Saad Ali, are driving market confidence.

The market is also being driven, he continued, by favorable news flow on upcoming negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new program.

Last Friday, the late-session purchasing fueled a 1% advance in the stocks, which helped them close close to 73,000 points. Dealers reported this.

Closed at 72,742.75 points on Friday, the benchmark KSE-100 index saw a gain of 771.35 points, or 1.07%.

Notwithstanding the turbulent session, according to Chase Securities analyst Muhammad Rizwan, “the market rebounded with a strong start and achieved a new all-time high”.

“This impressive performance was driven by significant contributions from various sectors: Fertiliser added 386 points, Commercial banks contributed 174 points, the Power sector provided 112 points, and Cement added 93 points, collectively reversing the previous negative close and boosting market sentiment.”

Rain-related accidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa resulted in 10 fatalities and 12 injuries, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) on Wednesday.

Ten houses sustained damage from the rain, according to a PDMA spokesman. In Abbottabad, he added, the PDMA Director General came in Shangla to oversee continuing relief efforts, and the Secretary of Relief, acting on orders from Chief Secretary Khyber Pakthunkhwa, visited regions impacted by the precipitation.

Yousaf Rahim, the Secretary of Relief, gave the district administrations instructions to speed up the relief effort and offer everyone in the affected districts as much support as possible.

There are nominees for nine districts that have been deemed sensitive, according to KP PDMA Director General Sharif Hussain. Speaking about relief activities, he stated that PDMA was in contact with all relevant groups.

At Lakki Marwat, the roof of a madrassa collapsed due to strong winds and torrential rain, killing one seminary student and injuring six others. Rescue 1122 transported all injured people to the hospital.