Violation of code of conduct: Rift emerges within PTI’s accountability committee

PESHAWAR: Differences have surfaced within Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) internal accountability committee over an inquiry into corruption allegations against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati.

Sources said that a disagreement emerged between committee members Brigadier (retd) Musaddiq Abbasi and senior lawyer Qazi Anwar regarding the findings of the probe. The rift reportedly intensified after Qazi Anwar shared the investigation report of the committee with senior lawyer Salman Akram Raja. The other members considered this a violation of the committee’s code of conduct.

“The report was meant to be submitted only to the PTI founder,” a committee member said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Qazi Anwar sent the report to an outsider without consulting the other members.”

The act has drawn displeasure from the remaining two members of the committee, who believed the move breached the standard operating procedures (SOPs) governing the committee’s work.

Talking to Geo News, Qazi Anwar confirmed that he had sent the report to Salman Akram Raja. “He asked for the report, so I shared it with him,” Anwar said, while acknowledging that under the committee’s SOPs, the report should not have been shared with anyone other than the PTI founder.

Commenting on the investigation itself, Qazi Anwar said he did not find Speaker Babar Saleem Swati guilty of corruption, whereas Musaddiq Abbasi disagreed with that assessment. The third member of the committee, Shah Farman, along with Musaddiq Abbasi, declined to comment on the matter publicly. The internal rift has raised questions about the transparency and unity of the committee tasked with ensuring accountability within PTI ranks.