PTI suspends Dr Imran Shah for a month

Development comes two days after video of PTI MPA hitting a man in Karachi went viral

KARACHI: Confusion persisted on Thursday over the suspension of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Dr Imran Ali Shah with the party's senior leadership failing to take a consensus decision on the issue.

However, at around 9pm, the party officially issued a statement suspending Dr Shah's until the disciplinary committee gave its final verdict.

The development came two days after a video of Dr Shah hitting a man in Karachi went viral. The man was later identified as Dawood Chauhan, the senior deputy director for coordination at the Civil Aviation Authority.

Within hours of the incident, the PTI issued Dr Shah a show-cause notice. The party said that his actions were not acceptable and asked him to present his version of the story. After facing criticism from the public as well as his own party, Dr Shah went to Dawood's home and apologised to him.

Following his apology, Dawood's son, Labib Chauhan took to social media to express his reservations.

Labib said his father is friends with Karachi's PTI leaders Firdous Shamin Naqvi and Najeeb Haroon and it was only because of them that they let Dr Shah enter their house. "What if my father was not a known man? Would Dr Shah still have come [to apologise]?" Labib questioned.

Later on Thursday, PTI's founding leader and MNA from Karachi's NA-256, Haroon, tweeted that given the severity of the matter, Dr Shah has been suspended for a month. Final action will be taken after considering the recommendations of the party's disciplinary committee, Haroon added.



When contacted by The Express Tribune, PTI Senior Central Vice President Ali Zaidi also confirmed Dr Shah's suspension. However, party's different spokespersons continued denying any suspension and later in the day PTI's central spokesperson, Fawad Hussain, tweeted, "Clarification on road rage issue pertaining to Dr Shah: the matter is referred to PTI Sindh chapter and if needed appropriate action will be taken."

Even after this tweet, Zaidi maintained his position on Dr Shah's suspension from the party while the TV channels had already aired Dr Shah's suspension as breaking news.

When contacted, Naqvi's personal assistant responded and said that the matter is with the disciplinary committee and Dr Shah is not suspended.

A member of the PTI, on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that Justice (retd) Rana Zaki is heading the disciplinary committee, while there aren't any other members in it yet.

Dr Shah, the member said, has been given 24 hours more to respond to the show-cause notice and if he fails to do so, the matter will directly go the disciplinary committee. "On the basis of his response to the show-cause notice, Naqvi will decide his fate," the member said.

For now, the member explained that Dr Shah has been barred from speaking to the media.

Meanwhile, Dr Shah's phone was switched off when contacted by The Express Tribune.

Shah's stepmother

After the road-rage incident, Dr Shah was further marred in controversy as a video emerged of a woman claiming to be his stepmother and accusing the lawmaker and his brother of manhandling and usurping her property.

The women, who identified herself as Dr Rehana Shah, claims to be the wife of the PTI MPA's father. She claimed that the PTI MPA and his brother "confiscated the properties of the elder Shah in Pakistan, England and Dubai" and added that the two brothers forged documents to deny her and her son right to the properties.



"I have gone to the court and my case is pending there. My son and I are threatened by them [Imran Shah and brother]. I am more terrified since he has been elected as an MPA in my area. Believe me, I am really terrified. Anything can happen to me or my son anytime," claimed Dr Shah's wife.

Shehzad Memon, who heads the party's media department in Karachi, said, "The video is purely a personal and family matter."

He added that one could go to the courts as social media is not a platform for such matters.