ISLAMABAD: An application has been filed with Islamabad police to register a treason case against PTI Chairman Imran Khan, former finance minister Shaukat Tarin and incumbent finance ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mohsin Khan Leghari and Taimur Khan Jhagra.

On Monday, two audio clips surfaced via TV channels and social media in which a man said to be Mr Tarin can be heard guiding the two provincial ministers to tell the federal government and the IMF that they would not be able to commit to a provincial budget surplus in light of the recent floods that have wreaked havoc in Pakistan.

The audios triggered criticism against PTI and the ruling collation alleged that it was nothing but a conspiracy to derail the government’s deal with the IMF.

The application, available with Dawn, has been submitted by the founder and chairman of Aman Taraqi Party, Mohammad Faiq Shah, who is a resident of E-7, to the the Kohsar police station.

The complainant stated that on Aug 29 at 11:50pm he saw a tweet of journalist Hamid Mir in which two audios were shared. In these audios, Mr Tarin was directing Mohsin Leghari and Taimur Khan Jhagra to create hurdles in the IMF deal.

“Mr Tarin was clearly saying that the way the government had lodged cases of terrorism against PTI, there was a need to increase pressure on it by creating hurdles in the IMF deal. It was also said that the decision was made after consultation with Imran Khan,” he said.

He said Mr Tarin had confessed to it during a programme Kal Takby Javed Chaudhry that it was the narrative of the party which showed that the PTI was trying to hatch a conspiracy against Pakistan.

The complainant said Imran Khan had already stated that Pakistan will default just like Sri Lanka. He alleged that such conspiracies were being hatched on the directions of foreign powers and it was a treason.

The complainant requested the police to take legal action against all the four suspects.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2022