ISLAMABAD: The controversy surrounding the purported audio of former chief justice Saqib Nisar took a new turn after a channel conducted a forensic analysis of the clip through a foreign company.
The findings of the US-based Primeau Forensics suggested the clip was doctored and made up of numerous clips.
The audio had surfaced last month wherein Nisar purportedly told another person that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz should be kept behind bars to make way for then-Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan in politics.
Nisar, however, refused to accept that it was his voice and termed it fabricated. “The audio clip is being falsely associated with me,” he had stated.
The forensic report issued by the company said changes in the tone of the person speaking in the audio in question were observed at multiple stages.
According to the report, the person can be heard speaking from a distance in the first 25 seconds of the clip, while in the last 20 seconds, he is speaking from near the recording device, which shows that some of the 45-second clip was recorded in one place and the other at a different place.
The report further stated the company holds 30 years of experience in forensic analyses of audio clips and videos and has conducted forensic investigations of 5,000 videos, audio clips, and pictures.
It has provided expert opinion to local, governmental, and federal courts in more than 500 cases and counted US television channels, Associated Press, and other news agencies among its clients.
When asked about senior journalist Ahmed Noorani’s news report, which claimed the audio clip is not fabricated, the forensics company said the clip comprises bits taken from more than a single source, recorded in two different environments.
Speaking about the development to a television channel, Nisar said: “Thanks to the Almighty, the truth has been revealed today.”
Meanwhile, Noorani, in a tweet, said: “Propaganda in Pakistan continues. My story on Saqib Nisar audio was based on a forensic analysis conducted by a credible US firm. The forensic firm was threatened by thousands of people from Pakistan to change the report but they always confirmed that they worked with Fact Focus.”
He further said that he is ready to issue the Pakistani news channels a legal notice for “spreading lies” if they run a news story against him or his story in the United Kingdom or the US.
On the other hand, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Mirza Shahzad Akbar told a news agency that a reputed forensic audit company has confirmed that the audio leak of former CJP Justice Saqib Nisar was made up of multiple audio clips, which is a continuity of forgery by the PML-N and its attack on different institutions.
With additional input from News Desk
