Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik Thursday lambasted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan for ‘violating Official Secrets Act’, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
While addressing a news conference in Islamabad, the minister said: “The PTI chairman violated the Official Secrets Act as the prime minister.”
He stated: “The American cypher was used [by Imran Khan] for political purposes. The penalty for losing a cypher is three years.” He added: “Violation of the Official Secrets Act is punishable by 17 years.”
He came down hard on the PTI chairman for concocting a story of US interference to remove his government.
He demanded lodging case against Imran Khan for tarnishing the reputation of the state institutions through cypher conspiracy.
He said the recent statement of Azam Khan has exposed the PTI chief's cypher conspiracy that was used for political gains.
The minister said the confessional statement of Azam Khan has confirmed that making a confidential state document public is a crime. He said the confessional statement is also a charge-sheet against the PTI chairman.
Musadik Malik said making a secret document public is a clear violation of oath and the constitution of the country and the PTI chairman should be held accountable for this crime as this is a matter of national interest.