'Faisal Ch removed from PTI legal committee on Imran Khan's orders'

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja claimed on Tuesday that, following orders from incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, lawyer Faisal Chaudhry has been removed from the PTI legal committee.

Speaking on a private media outlet, Raja described Faisal’s role as “negative” and said, “Today, Khan sahab ordered his removal from the legal committee… The matter had been ongoing for a while, and today, it reached its conclusion. We have removed him from the legal committee.”

According to media reports, after Imran Khan was informed of Faisal Chaudhry’s recent statements, the PTI founder approved his removal from both the legal committee and the PTI lawyers’ WhatsApp group. All legal responsibilities and cases assigned to him were also withdrawn.

Raja further claimed that although a list of six individuals was submitted to meet Imran Khan, Senator Hamid Khan and lawyer Uzair Bhandari were not allowed to meet him.

He stated that the jail administration removed two names from the approved list and added Babar Awan’s name instead. “I spoke to the jail authorities and questioned why they were violating the prisoner’s decision by not allowing those I had listed,” he added.

When asked by the programme host, “Did you object only to Awan’s meeting with Imran Khan today and not next week?” Raja replied, “Yes, absolutely. We had proposed his name for next week.”

Meanwhile, Faisal’s brother and former Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry, gave a scathing response to Raja following the announcement. Sharing a clip of Raja’s statement on X (formerly Twitter), Fawad used a derogatory term and wrote, “He [Raja] has been placed here just to remove so-and-so." 

Former PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat, who had previously had a verbal spat with Raja, also weighed in on the matter via his official X account: “The dismissal of Faisal Chaudhry and the humiliation of Dr. Babar Awan in just one day are just two examples of how the party is being weakened by egotistical individuals. I predict that the downfall of these sick-minded people will be dreadful and very soon. Given the speed at which they are destroying the party, I hope that the turn for Khan Sahib’s removal comes soon as well.”