ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday slammed what he said was an ‘unnecessary noise’ surrounding the directives issued by the Prime Minister’s Office earlier in the day in relation to an investigation into a story published in Dawn, saying that a formal notification was yet to be issued in this regard.
Talking to the media, Nisar said that a notification regarding the inquiry was supposed to be issued by the Interior Ministry and not the PM’s Office, and “we haven’t issued it yet”.
“The PM’s Secretariat or the PM’s Office need to read the rules of business: they cannot issue notifications. The ‘notification’ that is being circulated is actually addressed to the Ministry of Interior… in lieu of the briefing I have given to the prime minister [regarding the committee’s recommendations].”
He further said the final notification would be issued by his ministry and would be in line with what he called the “black and white” recommendations made by the inquiry committee.
Nisar’s statement implied that the PM Office’s directives addressed to the Interior Ministry, on the basis of which his ministry was to issue a formal notification, were leaked before the Interior Ministry saw them.
It also raised fresh questions regarding what official action his ministry was going to order in relation to the investigation.
Replying to a question on the matter at an unrelated press conference in Karachi, he started off by saying, “Whatever I say will be in accordance with the law. I believe that tweets, sent out by whichever institution, are a deadly poison for Pakistan’s democracy, our system and justice.”
