ISLAMABAD  -  The differences between two senior members of the legal team of im­prisoned ex-premier Imran Khan ap­peared to have intensified on Thurs­day with one member not only continued levelling serious allegations against the other but also rebuked the senior party leadership for its alleged controversial role in the spat.

A day earlier, Advocate Sher Afzal Khan Marwat had called senior counsel Shoaib Shaheen as the “only traitor” within the legal team of PTI chairman Imran Khan. Both the law­yers are part of the legal team of the PTI chief. Shaheen had also been giv­en the responsibility of PTI spokes­ 

spokesperson earlier this week. On Thursday, Marwat also made headlines on social media after senior anchor­person Javed Chaudhry re­vealed on his YouTube chan­nel that the lawyer entered into a physical brawl with the PML-N Senator Afnan Ullah Khan during his live TV show.

A day earlier, Marwat while talking to X had said that Sha­heen mysteriously emerged in the last week of April 2023 at the PTI’s legal commit­tee meeting in Bani Gala. He added that Shaheen had nev­er been part of the PTI and its Insaf Lawyers Forum (ILF) before this and his access to the residence of Imran Khan in Bani Gala reflected that he had the support of someone with the party ranks.

Marwat also questioned the professional career of Sha­heen saying that he only had been dealing with service tri­bunal cases and didn’t know the ABC of criminal law

He also accused that Sha­heen had not only leaked the PTI strategy to the state attor­neys but also to an intelligence agency. In response to these al­legations, a PTI spokesperson in a statement made it clear that the party has nothing to do with the tweet of Advocate Marwat regarding Advocate Shaheen, “a key member of PTI’s legal team.” He said that the tweet could be his person­al opinion but the party held Shaheen in high esteem.

The spokesperson said that PTI did not agree with the content of the tweet, adding that the PTI legal team was fighting the cases of the PTI chairman, party leaders and workers with great effort, dedication and hard work in the face of unfavourable and challenging situations.

Marwat again took to the X to say that the spokesperson defended Shaheen “under the garb of the official press re­lease”, but he forgot to thank him for being a part of the PTI legal team. “Will you throw light on a single achieve­ment of Shoaib Shaheen since the start of fascism against the PTI?” he asked the par­ty spokesperson. “Will you mention a single PTI leader he (Shaheen) defended in the law courts?” he posed anoth­er question. In another tweet, Marwat again levelled serious allegations against Shaheen and said, “As long as we have traitors in our ranks, they will continue to thwart any effort to get Khan out of jail.”