ISLAMABAD
The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing Imran Khan’s case was prompted to expand its investigation after an online American news organisation published the alleged content of a secret diplomatic cable document that is at the heart of the probe. According to sources close to the investigation, the JIT is keen to see how and who has leaked the document’s content to the media and whether the content of the cipher, as shared by The Intercept, is original or exaggerated. A cipher is a secret document that ambassadors in another country send to their country, if they speak wrongly about a country or a person, they have the right to ask for reasons.
The probe is set to conclude within a week or 10 days and the investigation so far makes a case against the former Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan. According to news reports, the probe team found that the former Prime Minister retained a copy of the controversial cipher. The JIT investigation has taken yet another turn as the “twisting and manipulation” of the secret document for political gain is also a violation of the law. The team constituted by the outgoing Shehbaz Sharif government has already interviewed Khan, Fawad Chaudhry, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, and other Foreign Office officials. The most critical part of the probe pertains to the statement of Azam Khan, ex-principal secretary to the former Prime Minister, who told the FIA and also stated before a magistrate that the former PM had used the US cipher for “political gains” and to avert no-confidence motion against him. The former bureaucrat, in his statement, said when he provided the ex-premier with the cipher, Khan was “euphoric” and termed the language a “US blunder”. According to Azam, Khan then said that the cable could be used for “creating a narrative against establishment and opposition”. The US cipher was allegedly used in political gatherings by the PTI chairman, despite being advised to avoid such displays.
Imran Khan appeared before the JIT last month. He was called again on 1 August to appear before the probe team in the FIA but the PTI chairman avoided joining further probe into the matter. Former interior minister Rana Sanaullah said that although Khan told Azam he lost the cipher, Sanaullah believed that the secret document was still with the PTI chairman. The interior minister of the Shehbaz government was of the view that Imran Khan should be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act for exposing a secret document and stealing it to use for his own political interests.