As part of its investigation into Imran Khan’s X post about the 1971 war, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) summoned party leaders. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has filed a motion with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to contest this action.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, Information Secretary Raoof Hasan, and Secretary-General Omar Ayub Khan claimed in the plea that the party was being targeted by a “pre-planned attack” by the government and its allies.
The former prime minister was credited as writing the following on X, the former Twitter platform: “Every Pakistani should study the Hamood ur Rahman Commission Report and get to know who was the true traitor, General Yahya Khan or Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.”
Politicians and members of the government criticised the post; Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif implied that Khan intended to split the country by stating that Khan’s true face was now shown to the public.
The party responded by claiming that because the PTI founder was incarcerated, he had nothing to do with the post. A new Pandora’s box was opened when a leader later claimed that Khan had approved of everything posted.
Subsequently, the party claimed ownership of the post and stated that it was uploaded to educate the public about past errors, emphasising the importance of learning from them to prevent them in the future. The party leaders were then served with notifications by the FIA.
In today’s plea, the PTI leader stated: “…the FIA is hell-bent on making another case against Imran Khan, PTI workers, and its leadership in the garb of the alleged tweet.”
The plea stated that because the warnings were sent to the leaders in violation of legal authority, they are null and void, unlawful, without jurisdiction, and deceptive, and they may be set aside.
The plea said that the notifications, which were sent out on May 30, had unclear contents and that no explanation had been given for their purpose, the information they were seeking, or how they related to the complaint.
They said, “it is well established” that the right to a fair investigation is a part of the right to a fair trial. On the other hand, it stated that in this instance, it is evident from the complaint, the surrounding circumstances, and the notification that the petitioners would not receive legal treatment and would not be granted a fair investigation.
They went on to say that it seems the complainant in this instance, Anees Ur Rehman, technical assistant FIA, CCRC, made the purported accusation under duress and without the “approval of the federal government.”
According to the plea, Rehman is not directly harmed and there is no mention of any prior sanction from a body or organisation about the alleged commission of the act.
The appeal claimed that the FIA’s move to open an investigation into the X account’s usage was motivated by “malice” and aimed at “victimising, oppressing, and targeting the workers and leadership of PTI” in order to do irreversible harm to the party.
It is important to note that the petitioners have previously addressed their and the party’s stance on television programmes, and they have nothing to do with the aforementioned tweet. Ex-facie, the contested notification is false and unlawful.
