• PTI counsel challenges FIA’s interpretation in bail plea
• IHC reserves order on ex-PM’s Toshakhana appeal

ISLAMABAD: A special court formed under the Official Secrets Act on Monday decided to indict former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case on October 17.

The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document, which reportedly went missing from Mr Khan’s possession. The PTI alleges that it contained a threat from the United States to oust the former prime minister from office.

Special court judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, after resuming the proceeding against Mr Khan and Mr Qureshi in Adiala Jail, ordered the distribution of copies of the challan (charge sheet) among the defence counsel.

Special prosecutor Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi informed the court that due to the sensitivity of some official documents, they could not be shared with the defence counsel.

The court decided to indict Mr Khan and Mr Qureshi on Oct 17 and also summoned witnesses on the said date.

Sources privy to the proceedings told Dawn that during the jail trial, Mr Khan sought the facilities to which he is entitled to as a former PM.

He informed the judge that the jail administration did not allow him to take a walk within the premises and also sought permission for exercise.

Talking to media persons after the proceedings in the cipher case, Mr Khan’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar said that Mr Khan protested before the judge for being deprived of certain basic facilities and sought to be dealt on a par with the other inmates. He said that the government intends to commence the trial in haste with secret hearings, while Mr Khan wants an open and fair trial.

Post-arrest bail petition

Separately, the counsel for Mr Khan concluded his arguments before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on the post-arrest bail petition, saying that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had implicated the former prime minister in cipher case with erroneous interpretation of the Official Secrets Act.

Mr Khan’s lawyer argued before the single-member bench of the IHC, comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, that the Official Secrets Act is mainly meant for charges related to espionage and sharing the sensitive information with an enemy country.

He argued that the cases registered under this act were tried by the military courts, and this is the first case in which a special court is proceeding against an alleged violation of the secrets act.

He pointed out loopholes in the registration of the first information report (FIR), Mr Khan’s detention, his subsequent remand to judicial custody, and the submission of the challan.

The counsel said that the prosecution invoked the wrong sections of the Official Secrets Act for disclosure of cipher in public.

He claimed that the previous government amended this act in August this year in order to implicate Mr Khan. However, since the cipher issue had surfaced the previous year, the prosecution could not have applied the amended law against Mr Khan retrospectively, he added.

Barrister Safdar claimed that the previous government booked Mr Khan in over 180 politically motivated cases out of which the former premier applied for bail in 21 cases, and the cipher case is one of them.

He requested the court to grant bail to Mr Khan, as two other accused in this case, including Asad Umar and former principal secretary Azam Khan, were already on pre-arrest bail.

Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi, the special prosecutor of the FIA, informed the court that Mr Umar and Mr Azam have not been nominated as accused in the challan submitted to the trial court.

Justice Farooq adjourned further hearing in this case till Oct 12.

Toshakhana case appeal

In a related development, an IHC division bench comprising CJ Farooq and Justice Babar Sattar reserved an order on the civil miscellaneous application seeking to implead the state as a party in the appeal filed by Mr Khan against his conviction in the Toshakhana case.

Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, Mr Khan’s counsel, also requested the court to suspend the conviction and order of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that disqualified the PTI chairman from holding public office.

After hearing the arguments, the bench reserved its order, which will be announced later.

Later on, while speaking to the media, Advocate Khosa claimed that Mr Khan is being slow poisoned in the jail. He said that the jail administration must give assurance to the IHC for his safety and protection of life.

The same bench also issued a notice to the National Accountability Bureau on the petition filed against the dismissal of Mr Khan’s pre-arrest bail petition in £190 million corruption case.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2023