The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will announce its reserved decision on the petitions challenging the jail trial of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the cipher case. The IHC’s registrar’s office issued a cause list, stating that the decision, which Justice Aamer Farooq had reserved several weeks earlier, will be announced on Monday.
Imran Khan’s legal team challenged the notification authorizing the trial of the cipher case in Adiala Jail instead of an open court.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), responsible for pursuing the case, argued that holding the trial in open court could harm Pakistan’s diplomatic relations. The FIA declared that the cipher is a confidential document and that they should not disclose it to the public.
The FIA invoked sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act in the challan, which could result in a death sentence or a prison term of two to 14 years if proven. According to the challan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman violated the Official Secrets Act by possessing the cipher. Although a copy of the cipher had reached Imran Khan, he did not return the copy.
Throughout the proceedings in the cipher case, all hearings have taken place within the jail, with only Imran’s legal representatives allowed to be present. The court did not permit members of the media, as well as Khan’s family and party officials to attend the trials. The authorities initially arrested Imran Khan in the Toshakhana case on August 5, they later arrested him from inside the jail in the cipher case and he has not appeared in any court hearings since then.
