Cabinet committee deliberates filing sedition case against Imran, others

Interior minister terms PTI's long march an armed attack at the federation

ISLAMABAD:

A meeting of the special committee of the cabinet has deliberated to file sedition charges against former premier and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and chief ministers of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).

The committee was held under the chairmanship of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah at the interior ministry on Thursday, where the delegation considered filing sedition cases under Section 124-A of the criminal procedure code (CrPC).

The meeting was attended by Minister for Communications Maulana Asad Mahmood, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Economic Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar and other concerned officials.

The interior secretary Yousuf Naseem Khokhar and Inspector General (IG) Islamabad Police Nasir Akbar were also present according to a press release.

Read Imran asks nation to prepare for next long march

Sanaullah briefed the committee regarding the PTI's long march on May 25 and the party's alleged plan to attack the federation.

The committee also reviewed the evidence present regarding the march's participants, specifically PTI leader Imran and the provincial chief executives of K-P and G-B, to attack the federation.

The interior secretary and IG Islamabad briefed the committee members regarding the law and order situation during the long march to Islamabad.

The interior minister also urged the committee to forward a recommendation to the cabinet to register a sedition case against former prime minister Imran in light of the evidence.

He termed PTI’s long march ‘fitna’ and said it was a riot march rather than a ‘Haqaqi Azadi March’. Sanaullah added that the protest was an armed attack at the federation, in addition to mutiny.

“A formal planning was made to hold the capital hostage on May 25,” he added.

The minister stated that Imran Khan had provoked the PTI workers through his hate speeches against the federation, adding that the participants were armed.

“Under a plan, about 2,500 miscreants had already been brought to Islamabad before May 25. These miscreants had tried to capture D-Chowk before Imran's arrival,” he claimed.

Read More: Kerfuffle in Senate over Imran’s remarks

Sanaullah accused the “armed group” of not only attacking police, Rangers and FC personnel but setting fire to trees and the metro station. He also stated that the former premier had violated the May 25th decision of the Supreme Court.

The minister said police had to use tear gas to keep “miscreants” away from D-Chowk.

Subsequently, the committee adjourned the meeting till Monday (June 6) for further consultations to make final recommendations to the federal cabinet.

On May 31, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a committee to probe into the alleged claims made by PTI leaders that they were involved in incitement to violence and also carried weapons in the party’s long march.

The premier, while chairing a federal cabinet meeting, assigned the newly formed body the task of coming up with a plan to put a halt to these “anti-state” activities.