Islamabad: Pakistan’s coalition government is seeking treason cases against the top leadership of Imran Khan’s party and impeachment of President Dr Arif Alvi following the Supreme Court’s detailed judgement on the no-trust vote against Khan in April.
In a press conference on Friday, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the federal cabinet has formed a special committee to determine whether action should be taken against the PTI leadership under Article 6 of the Constitution, which relates to high treason. She said law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar will head the special committee which will present its suggestions in the next cabinet meeting.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah earlier said that the government had started working on filing treason cases against the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Senator Dr Afnanullah Khan has submitted a resolution in the Senate asking the government to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Alvi, a longtime ally of Imran Khan, local media reported.
This development transpired after the Supreme Court issued its detailed judgment on Wednesday on its decision to set aside the National Assembly (NA) speaker’s ruling on April 3 that dismissed the no-confidence motion against then prime minister Imran Khan.
Controversial action by the deputy speaker
The verdict said that then speaker Qasim Khan Suri prima facie breached his constitutional duty by unilaterally dismissing the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan instead of voting in the parliament. Justice Bandial observed that the controversial action by the deputy speaker triggered a chain of events, the most worrisome aspect of which was that “it allowed the then PM to claim the constitutionally repugnant outcome” of avoiding the no-trust motion “without a vote by the assembly.”
The court also said that the PTI had presented insufficient evidence to back the regime change claim. “The contents of the cypher have not been shown either to us or the members of the NA who are accused of being involved in a foreign conspiracy against Pakistan. Nor has other evidence been provided”, the judgement says. Khan was ousted in a vote of no-confidence in April which he says was part of a “foreign conspiracy” orchestrated by the United States.
The PMLN-led government had hailed the verdict while the PTI had called it “full of contradictions.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the court’s detailed judgement “exposes the lies and propaganda indulged in by Imran Khan” adding that it was “utterly shameful” how Khan “tried to undermine the Constitution.”
PTI Chairman Imran Khan expressed his disappointment and said that he was “deeply hurt” by the remarks made by the court in the detailed judgement.
He said the top court should have probed the issue after President Arif Alvi sent the chief justice the document that confirms interference in the country’s internal affairs. Khan’s government had formed a commission to investigate the alleged conspiracy but ut was dissolved after Khan’s ouster. PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry demanded a commission be constituted to investigate the issues related to the cypher and the conspiracy that led to the toppling of the PTI government.
