ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday challenged the Federal
Investigation Agency’s (FIA) summons issued to the party leaders in relation to
party founder Imran Khan’s controversial X post.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan, Information Secretary Raoof Hasan, and
Secretary-General Omar Ayub Khan filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court
(IHC), alleging that the government and its allies were targeting the party through a
“pre-planned attack”.
The development comes after the FIA’s cybercrime team started an investigation
into a post on X, formerly Twitter, which was attributed to the former prime
minister.
The post read: “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.”
The post drew flak from government members and other politicians, with Prime
Minister Shehbaz Sharif saying that Khan’s true face was finally in front of the
nation, implying that he wanted to divide the country.
In response, the party said the PTI founder had nothing to do with the post since he
was in jail. Later, a leader said everything was posted with Khan’s approval,
opening a new Pandora’s box.
However, the party later owned the post and said it was uploaded to inform the
public about past mistakes as it was crucial to learn from them so they aren’t
repeated. The FIA then issued notices to the party leaders.
In the petition filed today, the PTI leader said: “…in the garb of the alleged tweet,
the FIA is hell-bent on making another case against Imran Khan, workers of PTI
and its leadership.”
The notices issued to the leaders, the plea said, are void, illegal, without
jurisdiction, and malafide, having been issued without lawful authority, and are
liable to be set aside.
The plea said that the contents of the notices — issued on May 30 — are vague and
the purpose of the notice, the information sought, and its connection with the
complaint has not been explained.
They mentioned that “it is well established” that the right to a fair trial includes the
right to a fair investigation. In this case, however, it said, it is clear from the
complaint and surrounding circumstances and the notice that the petitioners would
not be treated in accordance with the law and would also be denied a fair
investigation.
They added that in the case, it appears that the complainant, namely Anees Ur
Rehman, technical assistant FIA, CCRC, made the alleged complaint without
“approval of the federal government and under a dictation”.
The plea said that Rehman is neither personally aggrieved nor is there any reference
to any previous approval with regard to the alleged commission of offence granted
by any authority or institution.
The plea said that the FIA’s decision to initiate an inquiry regarding the misuse of
the X account is tainted with “malice” in a bid to “victimi[s]e, oppress, and target
the workers and leadership of PTI” with a view to causing irreparable damage to
the party.
“The petitioners have already explained their and party’s position on TV shows and
they have nothing to do with the said tweet and it is worth mentioning. The
impugned notice is ex-facie illegal and malafide.”