Committee was formed after cabinet was told that cypher being used by Imran was missing from PM Office\u2019s records
\nISLAMABAD
\nThe federal cabinet on Friday announced the formation of a committee to investigate the diplomatic cypher that it was told had been \u201cstolen\u201d from the records of the Prime Minister\u2019s House, a statement issued by the premier\u2019s office said.
\nFormer premier and PTI Chairman Imran Khan, who was voted out through a no-confidence motion, had brandished a \u201cthreat letter\u201d, which was the cypher, on March 27 at a public gathering before his ouster, claiming that his government had been threatened by the US and the Opposition was involved in the conspiracy.
\nThe statement from the PM office, issued after the cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said that the body was given a briefing on the issue of diplomatic cypher where it was revealed that the copy of the relevant document was missing from the Prime Minister House\u2019s records.
\n\u201cThe meeting was told that although there is a record of the receipt of the cypher sent to the former premier at the Prime Minister House, its copy is not available in the record,\u201d said the statement. As per the law, the cable is a property of the Prime Minister House, it added.
\nThe statement said that the meeting termed the \u201ctheft\u201d of the letter a serious matter and after a detailed consultation, the cabinet formed a special committee to launch an investigation.
\nThe committee will recommend what legal action the government should take against Khan, the then principal secretary to PM Azam Khan, and former ministers. The committee will include foreign, interior, laws ministers and representatives of all the coalition partners of the government.
\nCabinet backs NSC decision on probe of audio leaks
\nOn the issue of recent audio leaks, the cabinet endorsed the National Security Committee\u2019s (NSC) decision to conduct a thorough investigation of the issue.
\nThe cabinet also \u201cexpressed serious concern\u201d on how the recent audios of former prime minister Khan, former principal secretary to the prime minister Azam and other persons related to the diplomatic cipher have \u201cexposed the criminal conspiracy of the former government and prime minister Imran Niazi\u201d.<\/p>\n
The body noted that the cypher was given \u201cfictitious meanings\u201d for political gains and harm \u201ckey national interests\u201d, adding that after committing \u201cfraud, forgery and fabrication\u201d the letter was stolen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a serious violation of the constitutional oath, other relevant laws, especially the Official Secrets Act. It is an unforgivable crime against the state as political interests were given priority over key state interests,\u201d said the cabinet. It added that due to this it was necessary to investigate the whole matter carefully and to determine the responsible parties and punish them as per the law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Committee was formed after cabinet was told that cypher being used by Imran was missing from PM Office\u2019s records ISLAMABAD The federal cabinet on Friday announced the formation of a committee to investigate the diplomatic cypher that it was told had been \u201cstolen\u201d from the records of the Prime Minister\u2019s House, a statement issued by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286621,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[638,10840,6125,4913,10869],"class_list":{"0":"post-286635","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-cabinet","9":"tag-cypher","10":"tag-pm-house","11":"tag-probe","12":"tag-stolen"},"yoast_head":"\n