The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) administration has decided to file charges against leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement for making “hateful statements” against state institutions.
On Tuesday, according to Special Advisor to the Chief Minister on Information Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, “The cases are being registered on the basis of hateful and provocative statements made against the army, judiciary and other state institutions in the past.”
Barrister Saif announced the decision made by the KP government following the filing of sedition charges against Shahbaz Gill, and a terrorism case against party leader Imran Khan over his controversial comments about a woman judge.
According to him, the cases would be filed under Section 196 (prosecution for offences against the state) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 108-A (abetment in Pakistan of offences outside it) and 505 (statements conducive to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Former federal minister Ali Amin Gandapur had filed a complaint, and Dera Ismail Khan Additional Assistant Commissioner Muneer Ahmad had been given permission under Section 196 of the CrPC to record the cases.
This was announced in an August 19 notification issued by the KP government’s administration department.
