Photo courtesy PID
The federal cabinet on Friday announced the formation of a committee to probe the “disappearance” of a copy of the diplomatic cipher that PTI Chairman Imran Khan has repeatedly cited as “proof” of a foreign conspiracy behind his ouster.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, the federal cabinet was briefed on the diplomatic cipher and was informed that a copy of it that was the property of the Prime Minister’s House had gone missing. “The meeting was told that although there is a record of the receipt of the cipher sent to the former premier at the Prime Minister’s House, its copy is not available in the record,” it said, adding that as per law, the diplomatic cable is a property of the Prime Minister’s House.
The statement stressed that the cabinet had described the “theft” of the letter as a serious matter in violation of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and had decided to form a special committee to investigate it. The committee, it said, would recommend the legal actions that could be pursued against Khan; his principal secretary Azam Khan; and other former ministers who were allegedly involved in using it for political gains. It would comprise the incumbent foreign, interior, and law ministers, as well as representatives of all coalition partners of the government, the statement added.
The cabinet also deliberated on the audios allegedly featuring Khan and various PTI leaders, stressing they had exposed “the criminal conspiracy of the former government.” According to the statement, the cipher was given “fictitious meanings for political mileage and subsequently it was stolen after fraud, forgery and fabrication.”
Thus far, two audio clips have emerged of ousted prime minister Imran Khan discussing means to “play” with the cipher, which he has been claiming “proves” a foreign conspiracy behind the vote of no-confidence that led to his ouster in April. In the first clip, he is allegedly heard discussing with his principal secretary ways to “play with” the cipher, while in the second he is instructing senior ministers against directly identifying the U.S. and admitting he had purposely used the word “letter” instead of “transcript” when describing the cipher in a public rally.
Other decisions
The cabinet meeting also condemned the harassment of Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb in London by a group of PTI supporters. It noted there was no room for such behavior in Islam or Western civilization and appreciated the “exemplary patience and bravery” shown by Aurangzeb in her response to the harassment.
The cabinet also, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Law and Justice, approved the filing of an explanatory reference by the president regarding the previous Supreme Court decision in the Reko Diq case. On the interior ministry’s recommendation, the cabinet approved new standard operating procedures for the inclusion and exclusion of names in the exit control list.