Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik has said that authorities are in contact with X (formerly Twitter) over the use of former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan’s account on its platform and an investigation into who has been operating it is underway.

Speaking on Dawn News TV’s programme ‘Doosra Rukh with Nadir Guramani’ on Friday, Barrister Aqeel Malik said: “Investigations are underway [into who is operating PTI founder’s X account].“

“Evidence and further material will come forward, and that will disclose where the account’s links are and who is running it,” the state minister added.

“At this moment, all I can say is that there is definitely an [the authorities’] engagement with X. Along with this, I believe that the legal process which is being adopted in this investigation [and] its results will also be before you very soon.”

Imran was recently quizzed in prison by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials about his “anti-state” tweets, critical remarks on foreign policy and other topics, according to a post on his official X account.

Although Imran does not have access to his X account in prison, the detailed statement disclosed the five key areas of questioning and his responses.

The PTI founder has repeatedly been quizzed about his social media postings, and he has previously refused to answer any questions without his lawyers present.

That was also the first time that such an account of a questioning by law enforcement personnel was posted to his official X account.

It may be noted that Imran does not have access to the internet in jail and his X account is operated by someone else.

Last month, a petition was filed in the Islamabad High Court challenging the alleged inflammatory posts made from the official X account of the PTI founder during his imprisonment.

The petitioner requested the court to direct the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to conduct a thorough investigation to determine who has been operating the PTI founder’s account while he remains incarcerated.

Imran, imprisoned since August 2023, is serving a sentence at the Adiala Jail in a £190 million corruption case and also faces pending trials under the Anti-Terrorism Act related to the protests of May 9, 2023.