Media reports have quoted sources as saying that the government has started taking the necessary steps to file a case of high treason against the previous PTI government, and the relevant Ministries of Interior and Law have already started accumulating evidence relevant to the case.
The four members of PTI likely to be named in the reference being filed by the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) led government include former prime minister Imran Khan, President Dr. Arif Alvi, former National Assembly deputy speaker Qasim Suri and Punjab Governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema.
Article 6 of the Constitution pertains to the abrogation and violation of the Constitution, and subsequently, of constitutional principles, and terms any such act, an act of high treason.
Section 1 of Article 6 says, “Any person who abrogates or subverts or suspends or holds in abeyance, or attempts or conspires to abrogate or subvert or suspend or hold in abeyance, the Constitution by use of force or show of force or by any other unconstitutional means shall be guilty of high treason.”
The clause also extends to parties assisting, aiding and abetting the violation of the Constitution, and says that no court in the neither High Courts, nor Supreme Courts in the country can validate an act of high treason.
Among cases of unconstitutional behavior by the PTI, they cited President Arif Alvi's move to dissolve the National Assembly, as well as Governor Cheema's delay in administering the oath to now Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz.
Sources mentioned that the government was in consultation with legal experts regarding the use of Article 6.