PPP serves notice on Latif Khosa for violating party’s guidelines

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has taken action against one of its senior leaders and lawyer, Sardar Latif Khosa, for violating the party’s guidelines by providing legal representation for the leader of another political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

In a show-cause notice issued on Thursday by PPP’s Secretary General, Nayyar Bokhari, Khosa has been asked to provide an explanation as to why disciplinary measures should not be initiated against him. The notice highlights that Khosa, who is a member of the Central Executive Committee of the PPP, engaged in representing the leader of a different political party without securing prior approval from the PPP’s leadership. This legal representation encompassed cases related to corruption, in which the other party’s leader had been convicted, as well as a case associated with the Official Secrets Act. Additionally, during a speech at an event for lawyers, Khosa openly criticized the state’s approach concerning classified information.

While the notice did not explicitly mention PTI Chairman Imran Khan, it alluded to Khosa’s defense of the head of another political party. Furthermore, the notice conveyed that Khosa’s membership in the PPP could face termination if he fails to respond within the stipulated timeframe.

Khosa, an esteemed lawyer, along with another senior PPP leader, Aitzaz Ahsan, has found themselves at odds with their party due to their public support for the PTI chief on various political matters.

Imran Khan, the PTI chief, is presently in judicial custody until September 26 due to his involvement in a case concerning a missing classified document (cipher), which he had presented during a political gathering before his removal from office last year. Khan was imprisoned on August 5 in the Toshakhana case for inadequately declaring gifts received during his tenure in office.

Although the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had overturned a lower court’s decision to sentence him to three years in jail with a fine of Rs100,000, a ruling that prevented him from participating in upcoming elections, he remains incarcerated as a result of his arrest in the cipher case. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) took the former prime minister into custody last month under the Official Secrets Act.

It is noteworthy that this is not the first instance of the PPP issuing a show-cause notice to senior members. They previously did so on June 21, targeting Latif Khosa and Aitzaz Ahsan for violating party discipline.