ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Wednesday asked PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and spokesperson Raoof Hasan to join an investigation into a ‘controversial’ social media post on party founder Imran Khan’s verified X account.

However, it restrained the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from harassing the PTI leadership over the issue.

Following the court order, both PTI leaders appeared before an investigation team.

FIA had issued notices to Barrister Gohar, Raoof Hasan and PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub, stating that an inquiry had been initiated on the “misuse” of Mr Khan’s verified X account on which “highly obnoxious and inciting content against state institutions” was shared.

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The post in question, shared on May 26, included a montage with a quote attributed to Mr Khan urging the nation to “study the Hamoodur Rahman Commission report” and understand “who was the true traitor, General Yahya Khan or Sheikh Mujibur Rahman”.

Advocate Niazullah Khan Niazi, representing Barrister Gohar and Raoof Hassan, contended before the court that the post aimed to “encourage national dialogue” and bring the country out of the ongoing crisis.

He said the FIA deputy director was a complainant in the matter, and he accused Imran Khan and others of inciting armed forces personnel to mutiny. The counsel said Mr Khan was behind bars for over 10 months and the leadership had nothing to do with the X account of the detained PTI founder.

Advocate Niazi requested the court to set aside the notices and also restrain the FIA from harassing the PTI leadership.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani directed the petitioners to “appear before the concerned authority on the given date and time and shall record their statements”.

The court directed the FIA not to “harass the petitioners and no adverse action shall be taken against the petitioners till the next date of hearing”.

Further hearing was adjourned till June 25.

FIA grills PTI leaders

Barrister Gohar and Raoof Hassan appeared before an FIA team led by investigation officer Muneeb Zafar. Advocate Khalid Yousaf Chaudhry also accompanied the PTI leaders. However, despite Mr Hassan’s insistence, the lawyer was not permitted to participate during the question-answer session.

Sources told Dawn that the FIA inquired about social media accounts, particularly Imran Khan’s X account.

Barrister Gohar remained with the FIA team for an hour while Mr Hassan was grilled for 35 minutes, the sources said.

The investigation team questioned Mr Hassan about Azhar Mishwani, Imran Khan’s focal person, and Jibran Ilyas, the head of the PTI social media team.

According to the sources, Mr Hassan did not provide much information about them. However, Barrister Gohar confirmed that they are responsible for handling social media content related to the PTI and Imran Khan.

Mr Hassan informed the investigators that his role is limited to print and electronic media, and he has no involvement with social media. Regarding the photograph of the army chief in the controversial video, Mr Hassan claimed it was published without his knowledge or approval, and he would not condone such content.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2024