Cabinet Committee constituted on May 9 incidents

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has constituted a five-member cabinet committee to examine the events leading up to the May 9, 2023 incidents, analyse causes and determine responsibility for these incidents.

According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Secretariat on Saturday, the minister for law and justice will be the convener of the committee while its members include minister for interior, minister for information and broadcasting, minister for human rights and any co-opted member to address any issue emanating during the proceedings of the cabinet committee, the official news agency reported.

The terms of reference (ToRs) of the committee are to examine the events leading up to the incidents of May 9, 2023, with a view to ascertain the identity and role of mastermind, planners, facilitators and executors and to analyse the causes and determine the responsibility for these events.

The other ToRs include evaluating their immediate and long-term implications; suggesting preventive measures to ensure that such a breach of national security is not repeated and recommend measures to strengthen the existing legal regime to deter such recurrences.

The Ministry of Interior will provide secretarial support to the committee. The cabinet committee shall submit its report for consideration of the federal cabinet within a period of fourteen days.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Investigation Anoosh Masood had said on September 20, 2023 that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and all others nominated as suspects in the probe into the May 9 riots had been charged with “criminal conspiracy”.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, she had said that nine additional sections pertaining to treason had been included in the challans for the cases of vandalism and violence that erupted after the former prime minister’s arrest in the infamous £190 million National Crime Agency (NCA) UK settlement case on May 9, against all the suspects including Imran Khan.

The investigation official had said evidence of inciting mutiny and planning vandalism had been found against the former PTI chairman.