ISLAMABAD: In response to the government’s formally allowing the top intelligence agency to tap phones of citizens to counter threats to national security, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced to challenge the move.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan said he would challenge the notification through his lawyer Babar Awan, as it was unconstitutional and against the fundamental rights envisaged in the Constitution, Geo News reported.

The federal government has given its nod to the country’s premier spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to intercept and tap calls and messages in the apprehension of an offence against national security. The federal cabinet has approved the circular allowing a designated officer of ISI to carry out the call tapping under Section 54 of the Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act 1996. However, the officer nominated by the agency must be a Grade-18 officer. The said section of the Telecommunications Act allows the federal government to authorise any person or persons to intercept calls and messages or to trace calls through any telecommunication system in the interest of national security.

Omar Ayub said those authorising phone tapping would themselves fall victim to it. He also said those authorising the intelligence agency to trace calls would be put behind bars. “Asif Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Maryam Nawaz will also go to the prison because of this law,” Ayub said, adding that all of them would be seen pursuing their cases in courts.

In a related development, the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC)’s parliamentary party meeting rejected outright the notification to allow tapping phone calls of citizens, billing it a subversion of their constitutional rights to privacy. The meeting, presided over by Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan, reviewed the latest political scene, cases against PTI leadership and other issues.

The forum adopted a unanimous resolution, which said that the parliamentary party wholly rejects notification No1005(1)/24 regarding giving unbridled powers to tap communication of any citizens on the pretext of national security interests. “This amount to subverting the constitutional rights of citizens to privacy. Furthermore, who will monitor misuse of such powers as no parameters have been specified,” it emphasised.