The Pakistan Army on Wednesday warned that peddling malicious allegations and blatant lies against the institution and its leadership to promote vested interests is condemnable and the institution reserved the right to take legal action against those involved.

“Insinuations made by Shaheen Sehbai and some others on social media quoting the former finance minister Shaukat Tarin is baseless propaganda,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

“The same has also been duly rebutted by Mr Shaukat Tarin himself. Peddling malicious allegations and blatant lies against the institution and its leadership to promote vested interests is condemnable and the institution reserves the right to take legal action against those involved,” it said.

The statement came in response to a tweet by a journalist on social media claiming that Tarin was asked to betray PTI Chairman Imran Khan and help Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The former finance minister had also categorically denied the news and clarified that he was never asked by anyone in the establishment to leave Khan and join Sharif’s government.