ISLAMABAD: PTI leader Asad Umar has obtained pre-arrest bail from a newly established Islamabad special court. This court was set up specifically to address cases related to the Official Secrets Act, including the ongoing cipher case.
The bail was approved with surety bonds of Rs100,000.
He also refuted media reports regarding his arrest by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
After registering an FIR under the Official Secrets Act, the authorities linked PTI Chairman Imran Khan and party leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi to the reports. Umar was among the “associates” investigators sought to question in connection to this matter.
PTI Leader Appears in Special Court Amidst Cipher Case Controversy
The FIA took Qureshi into custody for four days following a court order. Additionally, the agency recently interrogated Imran at Attock jail, where he is serving a sentence in the Toshakhana case.
Along with PTI lawyer Babar Awan Umar reached the special court in Islamabad today.
He said the FIR was registered against him in an application submitted in court, “in collusion with the government with mala fide intentions and ulterior motives”.
It stated that the petitioner was “falsely implicated” in the case to “blackmail, harass, pressurise and humiliate him.”
The plea added, “The story narrated in the FIR is false, frivolous, fabricated, concocted, unfounded and vexatious and the petitioner has no concern whatsoever with the alleged offences mentioned,”
Umar further stated in the petition that he was ready to join the investigation “as and when required”. He prayed for the bail before arrest.
Umar rejected reports of his arrest while talking to media later outside court. Speculation arose that he had been apprehended in the cipher case alongside PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
“Reports of my arrest are false, “said Umar. “FIA not arrested me. I have come to the court to receive pre-arrest bail. I have cooperated with investigators in the case twice.”
Regarding the conditions of PTI chief Imran Khan’s cell in Attock jail, Umar said: “The judge himself has acknowledged the seriousness of the claims.”
The FIR
According to the FIR, a case has been registered against former prime minister Imran Khan and Qureshi under sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923, read with Section 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
They have been accused of wrongful communication/use of official secret information. They are accused of illegal retention of a cipher telegram (an official secret document) with mala fide intention. The roles of former SAPM Muhammad Azam Khan, former federal minister Umar, and other involved associates will be ascertained during the investigations.
It said former PM Imran, former FM Qureshi and their other associates are involved in communication of information contained in secret classified document (cipher telegram received from Parep Washington dated March 7, 2022 to the Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to the unauthorized persons (i.e. public at large) by twisting facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security.
They held a clandestine meeting at Banigala on March 28, 2022. The reason is to conspire to misuse the contents of the cipher in order to accomplish their nefarious designs.
Imran khan with mala fide directed the former principal secretary, Azam Khan, to prepare the minutes of said clandestine meeting. He asked him to manipulate the contents of the cipher message. He wanted to use it for his vested interest at the cost of national safety.
Moreover, the former PM deliberately kept the numbered and accountable copy of the cipher telegram with mala fide intention. The copy never returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The said cipher telegram is still in the illegal possession/retention of accused Imran, the FIR claimed.
