Pakistan Army on Monday lashed out at former prime minister Imran Khan, saying that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief has levelled “highly irresponsible and baseless allegation” against a serving senior military officer without any evidence. “This fabricated and malicious allegation is extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable. This has been a consistent pattern for last one year wherein military and intelligence agencies officials are targeted with insinuations and sensational propaganda for the furtherance of political objectives,” stated the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement. “We ask the political leader concerned to make a recourse to legal avenues and stop making false allegations.” The ISPR further said that the institution reserves the right to take legal course of action against patently false and malafide statements and propaganda. The statement came after Imran Khan, earlier in the day, questioned if military officers were above the law as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lambasted him for “routinely maligning [the] Pakistan army and intelligence agency”. Shehbaz had criticised Imran and said: “Imran Niazi’s act of routinely maligning and threatening the Pakistan Army and Intelligence Agency for the sake of petty political gains is highly condemnable.” “His levelling of allegations without any proof against Gen Faisal Naseer and officers of our Intelligence Agency cannot be allowed and will not be tolerated,” Shehbaz had added.