ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet was informed on Friday that the copy of the relevant diplomatic cipher was missing from the records of the Prime Minister’s House that the former premier Imran Khan had been terming as an alleged proof behind the ouster of his government in April this year.
A federal cabinet meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. However, Marriyum Aurangzeb, in a separate message to Business Recorder clarified by saying that “Cypher copy of PM House got missing which was received by Azam Khan. The original is with Foreign Office.”
After a detailed consultation, the cabinet formed a special committee of the cabinet which will determine the legal action against all the involved, ex-prime minister, ex-principal secretary to the prime minister, and senior ministers. The cabinet committee will include the representatives of the coalition parties in the government, besides the ministers of the ministries of foreign affairs, interior, and law.
The cabinet was informed that although there is a record of the receipt of this cipher sent to the former prime minister at the Prime Minister’s House but its copy is not available in the record.
According to the law, this copy is the property of Prime Minister’s House. The meeting declared that “the theft” of diplomatic cipher records is a serious matter.
Govt forms committee to investigate cypher 'stolen' from PM House
The cabinet expressed concern over the audio leaks of former prime minister Imran Khan, former principal secretary to the prime minister and other persons related to the diplomatic cipher which has “exposed the conspiracy” of the former government and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The cabinet discussed the issue of audio leaks in detail. The meeting endorsed the decision of the National Security Committee (NSC) to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
A diplomatic “cipher” was given fictitious meanings to kill key national interests for political gain and stolen after “fraud, forgery, fabrication”. This is a serious violation of the constitutional oath, other relevant laws, regulations, especially the “Official Secrets Act”.
The cabinet observed that It was an unforgivable crime against the state by giving priority to political interests over key state interests.
Therefore, according to the constitution, law and regulations, it is necessary to investigate this whole matter carefully and to determine the responsible parties and punish them strictly according to the law.
The cabinet meeting condemned in the strongest terms the harassment, intimidation, indecency, and surrounding and chasing by the PTI workers in London of the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Marriyum Aurangzeb.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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