'PTI founder, Arif Alvi, Suri to be tried under Article 6'

Pakistan’s government has decided to file a reference before a Supreme Court to try former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan, former president, Arif Alvi and former deputy speaker NA, Qasim Suri under Article 6.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced this in a press conference on Monday. The reference will be forwarded to Supreme Court after approval from the federal cabinet, he added.

The minister said the country had been toyed with a lot and if there has to be any development in the country, Pakistan and the PTI could not co-exist.

The minister further said the government believed that under Article 17 of the Constitution, it was empowered to ban political parties, adding that looking at the “evidence”, the PTI should be banned. “They tried to sabotage the IMF deal,” he alleged.

Read more: PTI to be banned, decides fed govt

The Information Minister said the government and its allied parties have also decided to file a review petition against Supreme Court’s judgment in the reserved seats case.

He emphasized that the judgment has legal lacunae and that they have strong legal grounds to file the review.  He pointed out that the PTI had not sought relief in the case.

The Information Minister said the government will complete all these processes while remaining within the domain of law and constitution. He said these matters will be taken forward so that in future nobody could dare to violate the constitution, hurt the national interests and attack the defense institutions.