This is apropos a Business Recorder letter titled ‘The onus of proof is reversed and placed firmly on PTI’ carried by the newspaper in its Letters to Editor columns on Wednesday, let me state from the outset that we are talking about a politician—Imran Khan— who knows how to handle himself in a tight spot. There are no two opinions about the fact that the party is in a very difficult situation.

Demanding an investigation by the apex court is a legitimate demand in view of the fact that the incumbent government is extremely hostile or inimical towards PTI, Imran Khan must produce incontrovertible evidence to prove his claim of innocence without any further loss of time.

It is quite true that the presumption of innocence is considered a legal principle that every person accused of any crime is innocent until proven guilty. The legal burden of proof is thus on the prosecution. But the current situation is too complex, to say the least, as the odds are stacked up against the party and its leadership.

The party must present compelling evidence to the nation much before it submits the same to the court to prove that it had not authorized, directly or indirectly, any violent attack anywhere in the country with a demand that all the miscreants must be brought to justice.

Haroon Rashid (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023