Fawad Chaudhry says ‘CJP possessing cypher’s copy’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former federal minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Friday that the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) possessed a copy of the cipher which should be taken back by the government if it is not interested in holding an investigation, ARY News reported.

While talking to ARY News programme ‘Sawal Yeh Hai’, Fawad Chaudhry said that the incumbent government’s prime minister and ministers were seemingly unaware of declassification of the cypher and it was decided in the last federal cabinet meeting of the previous government to send a copy of the diplomatic cable to then National Assembly’s (NA) deputy speaker.

“The then federal cabinet had sent a copy of the cypher to the NA speaker and requested him to open an investigation. Then NA speaker forwarded the cypher’s copy to the chief justice for an investigation.”

READ: MISSING CYPHER: ‘GOVT WANTS TO DIVERT ATTENTION FROM AUDIO LEAKS’

“A copy of the diplomatic cable must be presented in the National Security Committee’s (NSC) meeting chaired by the current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. If it was not presented in the first meeting then what is the reason for chairing the second NSC session,” Fawad detailed.

“The name of the United States (US) was not mentioned until demarche on the cypher. After the demarche, everyone knew that the cypher came from the US. We had also mentioned the name of US under-secretary after demarche.”

He criticised that it was unfortunate that the incumbent government failed to protect the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Fawad Chaudhry added that PMO is tantamount to the state and the audio leaks are damaging the reputation of the country.

READ: CYPHER ISSUE: ANOTHER ALLEGED AUDIO LEAK OF IMRAN KHAN SURFACES

Cypher ‘stolen’ from PMO

The cypher or diplomatic cable was ‘stolen’ from Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office and its copy went missing from the PMO’s record, officials told the federal cabinet members Friday.

The revelations were made in a briefing during the federal cabinet meeting chaired by PM Shehbaz Sharif today. The cabinet members took important decisions regarding the audio leaks related to the cypher.

A special committee has been constituted to probe into audio leaks. The National Security Committee (NSC) backed the decision of launching a thorough probe into the audio leaks.

The cabinet members said that the leaked audio clips exposed the criminal conspiracy of the previous government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan.

READ: IMRAN KHAN CLAIMS ‘AUDIO LEAK’ DAMAGED SHEHBAZ SHARIF INSTEAD OF HIM

It was revealed that the said cypher was ‘stolen’ from the PMO and its copy was removed from the records. The federal cabinet members expressed serious concerns over the ‘theft of cypher’ from the Prime Minister’s Office.

They said that the national interests were compromised for political gains by the previous PTI government by fabricating the contents of the diplomatic cable. “The cypher was stolen after fabrication, fraud and forgery. A serious violation of the oath, relevant regulations and Official Secrets Act was made and an unforgivable crime was committed against the state.”

They recommended ascertaining the responsible persons and imposing strict penalties in accordance with the law. The members said that the cypher’s copy was a classified document of the PMO as per law.

The federal cabinet decided to take legal action against the former prime minister, ex-principal secretary and former ministers.