Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan faces legal action over ‘cipher’ leaks – Times of India

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet on Sunday approved legal action against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and some of his party leaders over audio leaks about a “US cipher” that the former cricketer had presented as proof of a “foreign conspiracy” to remove him as PM.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been given the task of investigating the “diplomatic cipher” audio leaks.
In the leaks, a voice purportedly that of Khan and some former government high-ups was heard allegedly discussing how to “play” on the issue to build a narrative about a conspiracy hatched by US in collaboration with Pakistan’s dominant security establishment and parties now part of the governing coalition.
The decision to move against Khan and his colleagues was taken on recommendation of a committee formed on September 30 to recommend action over the leaks about the “cipher” message purportedly received from Washington.
“This is a matter of national security, which has serious implications for national interest and a legal action in this regard is vital,” said one panel recommendation approved by the cabinet.
“Therefore, the Federal Investigation Agency may be directed to inquire into the matter by constituting a team of senior officers, which may co-opt officers/officials from other intelligence agencies for the purpose, and to proceed further against the perpetrators in accordance with the law,” another approved recommendation stated.
It was recently revealed that a copy of the “US cipher” had gone “missing” from the records of the PM’s office. Sharif’s cabinet said the audios exposed “the criminal conspiracy of the former government”, while the “cipher” was given fictitious meanings for political mileage and it was stolen after fraud, forgery and fabrication.
Khan’s PTI has been under fire after the audio leaks revealed purported discussions about building a “foreign conspiracy” narrative on the basis of the much-touted “cipher threat”.

!(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {};
const { TimesApps } = window;
TimesApps.loadFBEvents = function() {
(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return;
n = f.fbq = function() {
n.callMethod ? n.callMethod(…arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments);
};
if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;
n.push = n;
n.loaded = !0;
n.version = ‘2.0’;
n.queue = [];
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.src = v;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s);
})(f, b, e, v, n, t, s);
fbq(‘init’, ‘593671331875494’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
};
})(
window,
document,
‘script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’,
);if(typeof window !== ‘undefined’) {
window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {};
const { TimesApps } = window;
TimesApps.loadScriptsOnceAdsReady = () => {
var scripts = [
‘https://static.clmbtech.com/ad/commons/js/2658/toi/colombia_v2.js’ ,
‘https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-877820074’,
‘https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/sdkloader/ima3.js’,
‘https://tvid.in/sdk/loader.js’,
‘https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/video_comscore_api/version-3.cms’,
‘https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/grxpushnotification_js/minify-1,version-1.cms’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#version=v10.0&xfbml=true’,
‘https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/locateservice_js/minify-1,version-14.cms’
];
scripts.forEach(function(url) {
let script = document.createElement(‘script’);
script.type=”text/javascript”;
if(!false && !false && !false && url.indexOf(‘colombia_v2’)!== -1){
script.src = url;
} else if (!false && !false && !false && url.indexOf(‘sdkloader’)!== -1) {
script.src = url;
} else if (!false && !false && (url.indexOf(‘tvid.in/sdk’) !== -1 || url.indexOf(‘connect.facebook.net’) !== -1 || url.indexOf(‘locateservice_js’) !== -1 )) {
script.src = url;
} else if (url.indexOf(‘colombia_v2’)== -1 && url.indexOf(‘sdkloader’)== -1 && url.indexOf(‘tvid.in/sdk’)== -1 && url.indexOf(‘connect.facebook.net’) == -1){
script.src = url;
}
script.async = true;
document.body.appendChild(script);
});
}
}