ISLAMABAD: On Monday, the interim federal cabinet greenlit the imprisonment trial for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case.
Approval was granted by the cabinet for the trial in Adiala jail due to security concerns, as per the Ministry of Law’s summary, which issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the jail trial on August 29 at the request of the Interior Ministry and Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain.
“The jail trial was requested for the PTI chairman keeping in view the security concerns,” noted the summary.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is set to hear Khan’s intra-court appeal against the jail trial on November 14. The court has called for arguments from the attorney general.
Khan, ousted from the prime minister’s office in April of the previous year following a no-confidence motion, initially filed against the jail trial in IHC, which was rejected by the court’s single bench on October 16. The single bench, led by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, found no apparent malice behind conducting Khan’s jail trial in the cipher case and directed him to approach the trial court if reservations persisted. Subsequently, Khan filed an intra-court appeal against the single bench’s decision.
In August of the current year, Khan and Qureshi were implicated under the Official Secrets Act 1923 in the cipher case after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) invoked Section 5 of the said law. The diplomatic cable, allegedly containing a threat from the United States to topple the PTI’s government, had reportedly gone missing from Imran’s possession.
Imran and Qureshi are presently detained in Adiala jail in connection with the cipher case. Imran was initially held after being sentenced to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case on August 5, 2023. Initially in Attock jail, he was later transferred to Adiala jail.
It’s worth mentioning that on August 29, the Islamabad High Court suspended the sentence handed down to the PTI chairman in the Toshakhana case.
