PTI announces legal action against health minister over ‘baseless accusations’

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday announced to pursue legal action against Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel and others over claims regarding party chairman Imran Khan’s medical state.

In a tweet, PTI said the party chief has approved “bringing the health minister, and the doctors of NAB, Health Ministry, and PIMS to justice”.

It said the legal team under Barrister Abuzar Salman Niazi has initiated preparations after the approval of Imran Khan.

“Abdul Qadir Patel’s embarrassing press conference and baseless accusations will be dealt with under the law of defamation,” it added.

The development comes after Health Minister Qadir Patel claimed that there was no mention of any fracture in Imran Khan’s medical reports.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Patel said Imran “went around” with a plaster on his leg for five to six months.

“Have you ever seen anyone having himself plastered for a wound on the skin or muscle?”

The health minister alleged Imran Khan’s initial urine sample showed evidence of toxic chemicals, “the likes of alcohol and cocaine”.

He said the former prime minister’s samples were taken at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad after being arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

He said Imran’s mental stability is also questionable, as per his medical reports.

“This is your (former) prime minister about whom a five-member panel of senior doctors is saying that his mental stability is questionable. There was some inappropriate gesture,” he said.

“The medical report is saying that when we talked to Imran for a long time, his actions were not that of a fit man.”

The minister said the medical report would be shown to the nation, stressing that it was a “public document”.

Criticising Imran Khan, Patel said he was a “one-of-a-kind narcissist and should be kept at a museum.

“Being a narcissist, he is insistent on his lies and calls them the truth. This narcissist has been inciting people and diverting the youth to the wrong path,” he added.

Pressure on PTI and Imran

Imran, who has called for holding immediate general elections since his ouster as prime minister in a no-confidence vote last year, has recently been faced with rising political pressure.

His arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case sparked violent protests in major cities with protesters ransacking state and private property, prompting the government to deploy army troops in two provinces as well as the federal capital.

Imran was subsequently released on bail, but the development received a fierce response from the government and the Pakistan Army, which vowed to arrest those responsible for the destruction. The aftermath also resulted in several PTI leaders jumping ship recently.