Pakistan sets up panel to mull treason case against Khan

Federal Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday said that the federal cabinet has constituted a special committee to deliberate whether action should be taken against the PTI leadership under Article 6 of the Constitution.

Article 6 states that any person who “abrogates or subverts or suspends or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance, the Constitution by use of force or show of force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason”.

The development on the government exploring Article 6 proceedings against the PTI leadership comes after the Supreme Court released a detailed judgement explaining the reasons why it dismissed former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Khan Suri’s controversial ruling on the no-trust move against then-prime minister Imran Khan.

“Whether these acts attract Article 6 of the Constitution (high treason) is also left open to be determined by the parliamentarians to ponder should they leave open the doors for such unconstitutional acts or take suitable measures to stop such like mess in future,” Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel in an additional note in the judgement.

• Pakistan