ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has approved the constitution of a committee to mull over treason proceedings against top leadership of former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Friday.
Khan, who was ousted in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April, says his ouster was part of a “foreign conspiracy” orchestrated by the United States. Washington has repeatedly denied the allegation.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Wednesday issued a detailed judgment in a case related to Khan's accusations and said the PTI had presented insufficient evidence to back its "regime change" claim. In his note, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel observed President Arif Alvi, Khan, then NA speaker, deputy speaker and former information minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had misused their authority, saying it was now on parliament to decide if "suitable measures" needed to be taken against them under Article 6 of the constitution.
On Friday, Aurangzeb said the federal cabinet had welcomed the detailed verdict and constituted a special committee to deliberate whether action should be taken against the top brass of Khan's party.
"A special committee of the cabinet has been constituted for the implementation of points raised in the judgement and future actions, including proceedings under Article 6," the information minister said at a press conference in Islamabad.
"This judgement is indictment of the previous government and its officials. This stands proven that the previous government violated the constitution."
The Article 6 states: "Any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance, the Constitution by use of force or show of force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason."
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar will head the committee, with interior and information ministers as its members and representation of the government’s coalition partners, according to Aurangzeb.
"This special committee will present its suggestions in the next [cabinet] meeting," she said.
Khan's party, however, has said the Supreme Court’s judgment is “full of errors".
“The history of Supreme Court decisions in Pakistan has not been that bright,” PTI leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said at a press conference on Thursday.
