ISLAMABAD: A specially established court, operating in accordance with the Official Secrets Act of 2023, has directed authorities on Thursday to produce Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Vice Chairman, at the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) by November 28.
This directive was issued during the initial hearing of the cipher case, which took place outside the Adiala prisons subsequent to the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) decision to invalidate the August 29 notification for a jail trial.
Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain has been overseeing the trial within the prison premises due to security concerns, following Khan’s indictment on charges last month. The PTI chairman is presently detained in Adiala jail after the special court indicted him on October 23.
In the most recent court session, the judge requested a copy of the latest IHC order regarding the jail trial and conveyed to Qureshi’s lawyer, Ali Bukhari, that the IHC verdict marked a significant victory for his client.
The IHC, on Tuesday, annulled the notification for Imran Khan’s jail trial on allegations of leaking state secrets. This ruling was made by a division bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Riffat Imtiaz, delivering the verdict they had previously reserved, in response to the intra-court appeal filed by the PTI chief against his detention trial.
Accepting Khan’s intra-court appeal, the division bench declared the law ministry’s notification “null and void” as it lacked legal authority and effect.
The IHC specified in a brief three-page order that a jail trial may occur “under exceptional circumstances.” It clarified that such a trial must adhere to legal procedures, enabling either an open trial or a trial in camera conducive to justice.
The court additionally clarified that the November 15 notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice, subsequent to the caretaker cabinet’s approval of the jail trial, cannot retroactively affect legal matters.
Moreover, the IHC invalidated all notifications issued by the ministry concerning the jail trial due to procedural irregularities and failure to meet legal requirements.
Furthermore, the IHC upheld the legality of the special court judge’s designation, stating it was legitimate.
In August, the Ministry of Law issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the jail trial of the former prime minister, responding to a request by the Interior Ministry and Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain.
On November 14, the high court suspended Khan’s jail trial in the cipher case after the caretaker federal cabinet approved the trial for Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Previously, after being ousted from office following a no-confidence motion in April last year, the deposed prime minister had appealed to the IHC against the jail trial, which the court’s single bench rejected on October 16. Subsequently, Khan filed an intra-court appeal against this decision.
In August of the current year, Khan and Qureshi faced charges under the Official Secrets Act 1923 in the cipher case, initiated after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) invoked Section 5 of the aforementioned law.
Reportedly, a diplomatic cable went missing from Imran’s possession, alleged by the former ruling party to contain a threat from the United States aimed at toppling the PTI’s government.
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
