By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The cabinet on Friday setup a ministerial committee to weigh treason charges against senior members of the former PTI government under Article 6 for allegedly violating the Constitution during a non-confidence move in the parliament against Imran Khan last April.
The cabinet of coalition government headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would also appoint a commission of inquiry (COI) to probe into allegations of sexual abuse against retired Justice Javed Iqbal, former chairman of the National Accountability Bureau and head of the Commission on Enforced Disappearances.
Marriyum Aurangzeb, Information Minister said the cabinet meeting welcomed the detailed judgement of the Supreme Court, “and constituted a special committee, headed by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and comprising ministers for information and interior and members of all coalition partners, for legal action under Article 6 of the Constitution”.
“The apex court decision is very clear and has mentioned the names of the president, the then prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker of the National Assembly who used their constitutional offices for personal political purposes,” Aurangzeb told a news conference. “The court had also concluded that the narrative of regime change through a foreign conspiracy was fabricated, false, and baseless.”
The minister said the special committee would come up with recommendations on the future course of action before the next cabinet meeting and the committee would cover all the points raised by the court.
The Supreme Court ruled that the then deputy speaker’s ruling of that day violated Article 95(2) of the Constitution and attempted to interpret Article 5 of the Constitution without jurisdiction.
For these reasons, the ruling and the subsequent actions of the then Prime Minister and the President were unconstitutional, without lawful authority, and of no legal effect.
The court also put to rest Khan’s regime change conspiracy allegations, maintaining the allegations were vague and not backed by evidence, and questioning why Khan’s government had not instituted an enquiry when it had the opportunity.
Minister Aurangzeb said the cabinet also decided to appoint a commission of inquiry under the COI Act 2017 to probe all aspects of the allegations by Tayyaba Gul and other women against retired Justice Javed Iqbal, and involvement of the Prime Minister Office in the matter for political gains.
Law Minister Tarar is designated as the head of another committee of the cabinet to finalise the terms of reference of the COI and would also suggest a panel to choose a name for the head of the COI.
Tayyaba Gul lodged her complaint on the former government’s PM portal and was told that her complaint had been forwarded to the Ministry of Human Rights.
The PM’s office contacted Tayyaba Gul and when she and her husband showed up, she says they were kept under duress at the Prime Minister’s House for 18 days.
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