Intra-court
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected an intra-court appeal by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan against his jail trial in the cipher case.
The hearing was presided over by a two-member IHC division bench, including Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat.
Salman Akram Raja, the counsel for PTI chief, argued before the bench that the federal government lacked the authority to issue a notification for conducting Khan’s trial in prison.
He asserted that the issuance of a jail trial notification was an administrative matter within the jurisdiction of the Islamabad commissioner.
Counsel Raja also pointed out that a single bench of the IHC had previously determined that the federal government had the prerogative to appoint a judge of its choice.
He emphasized, “They are judicial officers. The federal government does not have any authority to ‘pick and choose’ [judges].”
In response, Justice Aurangzeb expressed concerns, stating, “In this way, the executive will interfere in the judiciary’s domain.”
The division bench mentioned that the IHC chief justice might establish a new bench on the matter after addressing objections in a referred file.
“Right now, we cannot grant any interim relief,” Justice Aurangzeb added, noting that the admissibility of the petition would be determined later.
Earlier this month, an IHC single bench had found no apparent malice behind conducting Khan’s jail trial in the cipher case. The court’s verdict indicated that Khan should approach the trial court if he had reservations.
The decision was announced by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, concluding a series of hearings on Khan’s plea challenging his jail trial in the cipher case.
Imran Khan, the former prime minister, had requested an open court trial in light of security concerns.
The court, while addressing these concerns, stated that the jail trial was in favor of PTI Chairman Khan due to his security and his repeated expressions of safety concerns.
The decision to hold Khan’s trial in prison was made after his arrest in August of that year under the Official Secrets Act.
The day before, Khan and PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi were indicted in a case related to alleged misuse of diplomatic cables for political purposes, and both leaders were incarcerated in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
