The federal cabinet gave its approval on Friday to the formation of a committee that would decide whether to file treason charges under Article 6 against the PTI’s top officials, including Imran Khan as party chairman.
The cabinet approved the formation of a committee under the direction of Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar, according to Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb during a press conference following the cabinet meeting.
The cabinet, which convened under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, reportedly appreciated the Supreme Court’s thorough judgement in a suo motu case involving the decision made by former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri over the no-confidence motion against then-PM Khan.
Before voting against Khan could begin on April 3, Suri rejected the vote, calling it “unconstitutional” and supported by “foreign powers.”
However, the SC’s thorough ruling rejected PTI’s allegations of a foreign conspiracy and stated that the courts reach decisions based on evidence, not conjecture.
The court noted that no investigation was requested to determine the type or degree of any Pakistani person’s involvement in seeking or receiving help from a foreign state in order to bring the motion of no-confidence.
In addition, Justice Mazahar Alam Khan Miankhel noted that former law minister Fawad Chaudhry, President Arif Alvi, former Prime Minister Khan, former NA speaker Asad Qaiser, and ex-deputy speaker Suri had all overstepped their bounds and left it up to the parliamentarians to decide whether their acts could be prosecuted under Article 6.
“A special committee has been formed under the chairmanship of law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar […] which will present its suggestions in the next meeting of the federal cabinet,” said Aurangzeb in her briefing today.
Aurangzeb stated that a panel has been established to look into Tayyaba Gul’s allegations that she was made to stay at the Prime Minister’s House for approximately 20 days while Khan was in power.
“The PM’s Office contacted Tayyaba Gul, and according to her, she was abducted and held captive at the PM’s House for 18 days,” the information minister said.
According to Aurangzeb, Gul complained about sexual harassment and abuse on the PM’s Portal, but instead of hearing her complaints, the woman was summoned to the PM’s House and “kept captive.”
Gul, who previously accused Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, the former head of the National Accountability Bureau, of sexual harassment, asserts that Khan, the former prime minister, used her tapes to have the then-opposition blackmailed and his cases against the NAB dropped.
When she declined to share a flat with Iqbal, she allegedly faced backlash from NAB.
Gul claims that after filing a complaint on the prime minister’s portal, she was summoned to the PM’s residence by former principal secretary Azam Khan.
The information minister said the PM’s Office, through these tactics, “compromised” a national institution.
“In light of all these claims, approval has been given to form an independent and transparent commission under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 2017,” Aurangzeb said.
The information minister said the law minister has been directed to come up with the terms of reference, the chairman of the commission, and the name of the panel members, and furnish them before the cabinet.
“Since this will be formed under the Commission of Inquiries Act, 2017, it will be time bound and the commission will decide how much time the probe can take,” she added.
