Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and ex-Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi are set to face indictment for the second time in the cipher case, which involves a diplomatic document under the Official Secrets Act.
The Federal Investigation Agency claims that Imran failed to return the document, alleging it contained a threat from the United States to remove him as prime minister.
The first indictment on October 23 was annulled by the Islamabad High Court, leading to the current proceedings. The case revolves around a diplomatic document and the PTI’s assertion that it contained a threat against Imran. In the previous trial at Adiala Jail, the proceedings were scrapped due to a court ruling deeming the government’s notification for a jail trial as “erroneous.”
Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain ruled last month that the trial would continue at Adiala Jail but in an open court. In the latest hearing, Qureshi requested the court to summon President Dr. Arif Alvi to testify about changes in the Official Secrets Act. Imran, in a recent petition, challenged the indictment process, urging the court to halt proceedings.
The FIR accuses Imran and Qureshi of wrongful use of official secret information and illegal retention of a cipher telegram with malicious intent. It alleges that they, along with associates, communicated classified information to unauthorized persons and held a clandestine meeting to misuse the cipher contents for their “nefarious designs.”
Imran directed his former principal secretary to manipulate the meeting’s minutes for personal gain, compromising national safety. The accused retained the cipher telegram, compromising the state’s cipher security system and secret communication methods of Pakistani missions abroad.
