Investigation of Imran Khan’s allegations: PM demands full SC commission

F.P. Report

LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Saturday appealed to the Chief Justice Supreme Court to establish a full apex court commission to investigate the incident of attack on Imran Khan in Wazirabad and the ensuing allegations levelled by the chairman of Pakistan Tehrik i Insaf (PTI).

Addressing a press conference here, he said commission should probe the allegations of Imran Khan against him, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and a high-ranking army officer. He said, “I will immediately write a letter to the chief justice Supreme Court for the investigation by the full court commission.” The same full court commission should also investigate the murder of Arshad Sharif and the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident, he added.

He assured that the federal government would fully support the commission. Shehbaz said it was unfortunate that Imran Khan falsely alleged that the prime minister, interior minister and an important officer of the institution hatched a conspiracy against him. He said as prime minister it was his responsibility to play his role when people were misled with repeated lies and insincerity to take the country to the brink of disaster. The prime minister said Imran Khan had his government in Punjab, his own chief minister, the province’s bureaucracy and special branch so he should ask them to hold an inquiry into the incident of Wazirabad attack.

Imran Niazi should provide evidence to prove his allegations of involvement of the three persons including him (Shehbaz), in the attack, he asserted. “I have no right to remain Prime Minister for a second if evidence is presented about my involvement in the incident in Wazirabad.” He said the country could only move forward if truth and lies were sifted and people of Pakistan had the right to know the facts. He said Imran Niazi was telling worst lies and hatching nefarious conspiracies against the national institutions.

Videos were shown on the occasion to shed light on the contradictory statements and erratic behaviour of Imran Khan and maligning of judiciary and the leadership of armed forces by the PTI chief. Shehbaz said joy erupted in India when people there came to know about the statements of Imran Khan against the country’s top institutions. “This person (Imran) is an embodiment of lies and has been trying his utmost to mislead people of Pakistan.”

He said formation of the full court commission was vital to help the country move forward and strengthen parliamentary democracy whose foundations were shaken by the unfounded allegations. He stressed that religion card should not be used for fomenting political violence. He recalled that similarly Imran Khan did politics on the incident of Model Town, Lahore. The case of Arshad Sharif was also used by Imran for political mileage, he added. Now Imran was involving state institutions to gain political benefits, he noted.

He said thousands of armed forces personnel in the insurgency hit tribal areas and Balochistan sacrificed their lives for the defence of Pakistan and the use of derogatory language against the national institutions on social media was hurtful and unacceptable. The PM said Imran Khan levelled an allegation of $ 10 billion corruption against him, however the case could not proceed in court as lawyers of PTI did not appear before the judges for years. Imran Khan kept Tayyiba Gul in his illegal custody in the Prime Minister House and blackmailed the then chairman National Accountability Bureau Justice ® Javed Iqbal to use him against the opposition.

Imran also made allegations against him (Shehbaz) of $ 17 million corruption in the Multan Metro project and defamed China besides accusing him of corruption of Rs 27 billion, he narrated. He said Imran and his associate Shehzad Akbar also accused him of embezzlement in the fund of the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom and got published a false story in Daily Mail. However, later all these allegations were proven wrong in courts which gave him and Hamza Shehbaz bail and the National Crime Agency of UK gave him (Shehbaz) clean chit, he pointed out.

PM Shehbaz said Imran Khan gave personal directions for filing of a false case of heroin possession against Rana Sanaullah. He said the government of Imran Khan was removed by the opposition through constitutional measure of no confidence motion. Shehbaz held Imran responsible for destroying the economy of Pakistan and its foreign relations in his four years of government. The image of Pakistan was badly affected during the sit in of Pakistan Tehreek I Insaf in 2014 when the visit of President of China was cancelled, he added.

Talking about his recent visit to China, he said the stalemate of four years in relations of the two countries was broken and progress was made on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. He said he visited Saudi Arabia and China to improve relations with these countries and the results were encouraging and positive. Later, in a tweet the PM called Imran Niazi a habitual liar who was using baseless allegations to spread anarchy.