The Islamabad High Court (IHC) postponed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s jail trial in the cypher case on Tuesday.
IHC issues stay order against Imran: IHC postponed the court’s decision until November 16 after pausing the cypher case against the former prime minister.
Judges Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Saman Rafat Imtiaz, who make up the two-member bench, made the announcement during the PTI chief’s intra-court appeal against his prosecution in Adiala Jail.
Attorney General Mansoor Awan made the government’s case before the court throughout the hearing.
“He announced that the government had approved Imran Khan’s trial in jail and assured that the notification would be sent to the court.”
Following today’s proceedings was the hearing from last week, at which Barrister Salman Akram Raja, the lawyer for PTI Imran Khan, asked the IHC to have an open court trial of the cypher case.
At the previous hearing, Raja expressed that “the general public, media, and accused family members should have permission to witness the proceedings of the cypher case.”
He claimed that everyone would recognise that the cypher case involved no offence whatsoever.
Cypher case history
Someone filed a complaint under Sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 against Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the vice chairman of the Pakistan Turk Party.
Unauthorized individuals communicated the information contained in the secret classified document (cypher telegram received from Parep Washington dated March 7, 2022, to secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to the public at large, as per a copy of the filed police report (FIR) dated August 15. The report followed the completion of inquiry No 111/2023 initiated in response to the complaint lodged in the Counter Terrorism Wing (CTW), FIA. They did so by twisting the facts to serve their “ulterior motives” and personal gains, in a manner detrimental to the interests of state security.
The special court indicted Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi last month in connection with the cypher case.
