Cancellation of FIR
ISLAMABAD: On Friday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed the petitions filed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in which he sought bail and the cancellation of FIR (First Information Report) in the cipher case.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq announced the court’s decision today, which had been reserved since October 16, following arguments from both sides.
Meanwhile, the FIA submitted a list of 28 witnesses to the court along with the charge sheet, after recording their statements under Section 161.
Former foreign secretaries Asad Majeed, Sohail Mehmood, and the then additional foreign secretary Faisal Niaz Tirmizi were among those named as witnesses.
During the previous hearing, Imran Khan’s legal representative, Sardar Latif Khosa, argued that an FIR should not have been filed against his client because the federal cabinet, under the former prime minister’s authority, had declassified the cipher.
He further contended that the former premier was protected by immunity, as outlined in Article 248 of the Constitution, which safeguards the president, governor, prime minister, federal minister, minister of state, chief minister, and provincial minister for actions they take or are purported to have taken in their official capacity.
In the same hearing, another legal representative for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman, Barrister Salman Safdar, asserted that Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act was not applicable to the cipher case.
He argued that this section was meant for sharing sensitive information with foreign entities, and the FIR against the PTI leader lacked this essential element.
Imran Khan had challenged the registration of the FIR and had requested bail in the case, which had been filed against him and the party’s vice-chairman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, for allegedly misusing a classified document for their political advantage.
A special court established under the Official Secrets Act had charged both party leaders, and they were presently in custody at Adiala Jail.
On October 26, the IHC had also rejected Imran Khan’s pleas to halt the trial in this case.
According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) charge sheet, the former prime minister and ex-foreign minister were found culpable in this matter, and the FIA had requested the court to proceed with their trial and issue sentences.
Notably, the former PTI secretary-general, Asad Umar, was not included in the list of accused. However, Imran Khan’s former principal secretary, Azam Khan, was named as a “strong witness” in the case.
The FIA had also attached Azam’s statements, recorded under Sections 161 and 164 of the law, along with the charge sheet. It was alleged that the PTI leader retained the classified document for his own use and did not return it.
Additionally, the FIA included the transcript of Khan and Qureshi’s speech on March 27, the day when the former prime minister publicly displayed a letter claiming it was a cipher from a foreign nation that wanted his government removed from power.
