The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) issued on Thursday a show-cause notice to senior party leader and lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa for violating the party policy by defending the head of another political party – the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The notice, issued by PPP’s Secretary General Nayyar Bokhari, asked Khosa to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.
“You being a member of Central Executive Committee of Pakistan [Peoples Party] are defending/ pleading/ representing a head of another political party without prior approval of leadership in corruption cases in which he has been convicted and in a case against him under official secret Act, while delivering a speech in lawyers function you criticized the state policy regarding cipher,” said the notice.
The notice also mentioned that the PPP leader criticised the state policy on the cipher issue during the event, adding that Khosa’s party membership would be terminated in case of no reply within the said time period. The letter did not mention PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s name but said that Khosa – who is also a part of the former premier’s legal team – defended the head of another party. The notice also directed him to respond to the notice within seven days.
Senior lawyer Khosa along with senior PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan has been at loggerheads with their party leaders for defending the PTI chief’s stance on several political matters publicly.
The PTI chief is in judicial custody till September 26 in the case of missing cipher – a classified state document that the former prime minister had waved during his political gathering ahead of his ouster from office last year. Imran Khan has been imprisoned in jail since his conviction in the Toshakhana case on August 5 for failing to properly declare gifts he received while in office. While the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had overturned a lower court’s decision to jail him for three years with a Rs100,000 fine – a judgment that kept him from contesting upcoming elections – he remains behind bars due to his arrest in the cipher case. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officially arrested the former prime minister last month after booking them under the Official Secrets Act.
On June 21, the PPP issued a show-cause notice to its senior leaders – lawyers Latif Khosa and Aitzaz Ahsan – for violating the party’s discipline.
