ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said on Thursday the government had started working on filing a case under article six of the Pakistani constitution, which relates to high treason, against the top brass of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Khan was ousted in a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in April which he says was part of a “foreign conspiracy” orchestrated by the United States. Washington denies the charge.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued its detailed judgment in a case related to Khan's accusations, saying the PTI had presented insufficient evidence to back regime change claim.
In an additional note, Justice Mazahar Alam Khan Miankhel observed that President Arif Alvi, then PM Khan, then NA speaker Asad Qaiser, then deputy speaker Qasim Suri, 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 under article six.
The vote to oust Khan was held past midnight on April 10 after opposition parties brought a motion against him, following days of drama. The motion was first brought a week earlier but the former cricket star blocked it by dissolving parliament. The vote finally took place after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of opposition parties and said that Khan had acted unconstitutionally in blocking the vote.
“We have started work to file a reference under article six. Only the federal government has the authority to file cases under articles five and six,” Sanaullah told reporters.
The interior minister said the top court had given a “historic” verdict, in which it had used the words “blatant violation."
“Imran Khan violated the constitution for his benefit ... in line with the order, the president, the then-prime minister, and the then-deputy speaker violated the constitution,” Sanaullah said, adding that the national assembly speaker could also move the election commission to seek to unseat and disqualify PTI legislators, including Khan, who were involved in the subversion of the constitution.
Sanaullah added that he would also seek the federal cabinet’s permission to arrest the PTI chairman.
PM Shehbaz Sharif also commented on the SC's judgment on Twitter:
Meanwhile, the PTI has said the Supreme Court’s judgment was “full of errors".
“The history of Supreme Court decisions in Pakistan has not been that bright,” PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said at a press conference.
