ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi, former Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid and Principal Information Officer Rao Tehseen have been held responsible by the Dawn leaks inquiry report.
Justice (r) Aamir Raza prepared the the report. It also recommends that action be taken against the three for the Dawn leaks conundrum. This report was presented after a detailed investigation was conducted into the matter.
Mobile data was obtained from Tariq Fatemi, Pervaiz Rashid and Rao Tehseen’s phones were also obtained to aid in the investigation, according to the committee.
In October 2016, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had asked Rashid to step down from the ministry a few days after the Dawn leaks scandal surfaced.
The article, published in an English daily caused an uproar and the journalist who wrote it was briefly hit with a travel ban.
According to the story, the civilian government and military were not on the same page regarding actions against some specific militant groups and there was heated exchange of words between Punjab CM Shehbaz and ISI chief during a national security meeting.
Pakistan army had dismissed the story as “unfounded and planted” and called for an investigation.
Prime Minister Office and Punjab Chief Minister also rejected the report headlined “Act against militants or face international isolation, civilians tell military”.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had directed that those responsible should be identified for stern action.
