President writes to CJP to form Judicial Commission to probe 'regime change conspiracy'

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi, in a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), has requested to form a Judicial Commission to conduct open hearings and thoroughly probe the allegations of regime change conspiracy leveled by former PM Imran Khan.

Underlining the importance of constituting the Commission, the President said that a serious political crisis was looming in the country and major polarization was taking place in politics, in the wake of recent events, as well as among the people of Pakistan.

President Arif Alvi calls for thorough probe in alleged regime change conspiracy 

He emphasized that it was the collective duty of all institutions to make utmost efforts to avert damaging consequences to the country and prevent further deterioration.

The President regretted the fact that random comments were being quoted out of context, misunderstandings were increasing, opportunities were being lost, confusion prevailed, and with the economy also in crisis, the situation on the ground was approaching a political powder keg that may ignite at any time.

President Arif Alvi pointed out that the Supreme Court, in the past, had taken initiatives to constitute judicial commissions in matters of national security, integrity, sovereignty and public interest. “A Judicial Commission, headed by Chief Justice Nasir ul Mulk and two Hon’able judges of Supreme Court, inquired into rigging allegations in 2013 elections.

Similarly, Judicial Commissions were established to investigate the Memogate matter, and a still functional Judicial Commission exists for missing persons, that is headed by an Hon’able Judge of the Supreme Court”, he observed.

He further stated that there seemed to be a political consensus in the country as, according to press reports, the Prime Minister had also expressed a desire for establishing a Commission.

President Arif Alvi said that the nation held the Supreme Court in high regard and expected it to meet its expectations, adding that the Commission should investigate the matter based not on technicalities of law but in the real spirit of justice. He said that it, undoubtedly, would be a great service to our country, as the people of Pakistan deserved clarity on such a matter of national importance. The President said that in world history there existed myriad examples of regime change operations through conspiracies which were later confirmed by the declassification of top-secret documents. He lamented that it happened much later after the destinies of these countries had been significantly damaged by these illegal interventions.

“Who knows better than your Honour that to prove, that a “smoking gun” has been identified in the hand of a conspirator, or to find a possible money trail, or to identify meetings where people have been motivated towards cover action, or where people have been bought and sold, could be a vigorous exercise”, he added. “I am of the strong opinion that even recorded circumstantial evidence can lead the way towards some conclusions, based not on technicalities of law but in the real spirit of ‘justice’”, he said.

The President regretted that in Pakistani history, people had alleged and strongly believed in many obvious but unfortunately unproven conspiracies such as the murder of the 1st PM of Pakistan Shaheed Liaquat Ali Khan, the Agartala Conspiracy case, PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s public waving of a letter and allegation of a conspiracy against him, President Ziaul Haq’s plane crash, Abbottabad incident, and many other matters that remained inconclusive. The President requested that the Judicial Commission should conduct an in-depth and thorough investigation into what may or may not have been planning and preparation, starting before or following the overt threat, in the form of a possible conspiracy for regime change in Pakistan.