Court Hearing
In a significant development, the Official Secrets Act special court has summoned Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case, with the hearing scheduled for Tuesday. The court session, presided over by special court judge Abil Hasnat Zulqarnain at Adiala Jail, took place on Thursday.
During the hearing, Qureshi’s lawyer, Ali Bukhari, and Khalid Yousuf were present. The judge sought a copy of the Islamabad High Court decision in the cipher case, which was promptly provided by the court staff. The judge noted that the trial of the cipher case would proceed based on the circumstances prevailing before August 29 and issued the relevant order.
The Official Secrets Act court is set to reconvene for the cipher case on November 28. The special court judge subsequently issued a two-page order detailing the developments.
The order highlighted that the hearing for the cipher case, originally scheduled for that day at Adiala Jail to record prosecution evidence, had been affected by the Islamabad High Court’s nullification of jail trial proceedings conducted after August 29. The court instructed jail authorities to produce PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi for the next hearing on November 28.
Additionally, the Anti-Terrorism Court of Islamabad adjourned the hearing of bail petitions for Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi until November 28 due to the unavailability of the investigating officer.
These legal proceedings follow the Islamabad High Court’s recent declaration that Imran Khan’s jail trial in the cipher case was null and void. The court, in its verdict, acknowledged exceptional circumstances for conducting trials in jail but emphasized that the notification of August 29 for a jail trial in the cipher case was retroactively declared null and void.
