LAHORE: A three-member bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) was constituted Monday to assess the maintainability of a case against Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain for his earlier remarks about the Pakistan Army.

A petition filed by Advocate Aftab Virk in the LHC pleaded that the 'anti-army' remarks made by the MQM supremo fell under the category of treason, and that a treason case should be registered against him.

Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi wrote to LHC Chief Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik saying that since the case carried significant weight, a larger bench should be constituted to assess the maintainability of the petition.

The CJ constituted a three-member bench comprising Justices Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi, Mazhar Iqbal and Irum Sajjad Gul. Justice Mazahir Ali Akbar Naqvi will head the bench.

A date for the hearing has not yet been specified.

Earlier in July, First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered in different parts of the country against Altaf Hussain for remarks made by him against the chief of Rangers in Sindh and the paramilitary force in recent speeches.

In the FIRs, Hussain was accused of involvement in cases of criminal conspiracy, waging or attempting or abetting the waging of war against Pakistan and committing acts of terrorism.

Read more: Crime Diary: No result likely from five FIRs against MQM chief

In April, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations Major-General Asim Bajwa had said that earlier statements made by the MQM chief regarding the Pakistan Army would be legally pursued.

In a series of tweets, the DG had termed the MQM chief's remarks regarding the army and its leadership as "uncalled for and disgusting", adding that such references to the army and its leadership in response to the arrest of criminals who may have links with a political party would not be tolerated.

Read more: Altaf's remarks on army to be legally pursued: ISPR