The Islamabad High Court has sought response from the Ministry of Law and Justice and other defendants on the plea against the decision to transfer the hearing of the cipher case against PTI Chairman Imran Khan from Islamabad to Attock Jail.
In the Islamabad High Court, a hearing was held on the petition filed by PTI against conducting the hearing of the cipher case in Attock Jail.
In the application, Chairman PTI filed an application against the notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice for the transfer of court, which was heard by Chief Justice Amir Farooq with objections.
Imran Khan’s lawyer Sher Afzal Marwat took the position that two objections have been raised on our application, the objection is that we have made more than one request in the same application.
Chief Justice Amir Farooq remarked that what does it matter? I remove the objections, you give arguments on merit, the Chief Justice inquired whether the location of the court has been changed? Lawyer Sher Afzal Marwat said that the relevant court for Official Secrets Act cases is that of the Magistrate, it is wrong to give the authority of cases under the Official Secrets Act to the judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court.
Lawyer Sher Afzal Marwat said that it is requested that a notice be issued and a response be sought on this as well. Chief Justice Amir Farooq said that I issue a notice on your request. If so, the case should be rescheduled next week.
2 days ago, i.e. on August 29, the Islamabad High Court suspended the sentence of Imran Khan in the Tosha Khana case and ordered his release, while the special court established in Islamabad under the Official Secrets Act has ordered the release of the former prime minister in the Cipher case. He was ordered to be kept in jail till August 30 and directed to produce him before the court.
It may be recalled that the first special court in the country’s history was recently established in Islamabad to hear the cipher case registered under the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
The cipher case is related to a diplomatic document that allegedly disappeared from Imran Khan’s possession, PTI alleges that the cipher contained threats from the US to remove Imran Khan from power, PTI IK vice chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is also in FIA custody on physical remand in the same case, while former federal minister and PTI leader Asad Umar is on bail.
The former prime minister has been imprisoned in Attock Jail since his arrest on August 5 in the Tosha Khana case.
Yesterday, the special court of Islamabad extended the judicial remand of Imran Khan till September 13, after which the former prime minister filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court against the transfer of the judge and the case to Attock.
In the petition, Chairman PTI made Secretary Law, Secretary Home, Chief Commissioner, IG, DG FIA, Superintendent Adiala Jail and Superintendent Attock Jail party in the petition.
Chairman PTI challenged the notification of the Federal Ministry of Law to transfer the court to Attock Jail and requested the court in the petition that the notification to transfer the court to Attock Jail is illegal and should be annulled.
He also challenged the authority of the judge of Anti-Terrorism Court No.1 to hear the cases registered under the Official Secrets Act and said that the judges of Anti-Terrorism Court No.1 do not even meet the basic qualification criteria required in this case.
It should be remembered that this month, FIA named Chairman PTI, Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, leader Asad Umar in the case registered under the Official Secrets Act 1923 related to Diplomatic Cipher and on August 19, Shah Mahmood Qureshi was arrested from Islamabad. The former foreign minister is still in FIA custody on physical remand in this case while former federal minister and PTI leader Asad Umar is on bail.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi was named in the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the FIA and booked under Section 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code along with Sections 5 (Misuse of Information) and 9 of the Official Secrets Act. went
The FIR was registered in the complaint of Home Secretary Yusuf Naseem Khokhar.
The FIR said that on March 7, 2022, the then Foreign Secretary received a diplomatic cipher from Washington, on October 5, 2022, a case was registered in the FIA’s Counter-Terrorism Department and it was told that former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his aides were involved in providing classified information to unauthorized persons.
Regarding the cipher, the American website Intercept recently claimed that the document was received from him and published by him, while the former prime minister released the document in a public gathering just days before the end of his government. was waved.
In the FIR registered in the FIA, Imran Khan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and their aides have been named for trying to achieve their personal interest by distorting the facts of the information contained in the cipher and endangering the national security. .
Cipher was quoted as saying that ‘they held a secret meeting on March 28, 2022 at Bani Gala (Imran Khan’s residence) to hatch a conspiracy by misusing the details of the cipher to achieve their nefarious purpose’.
It was said in the case that ‘accused Imran Khan with wrong intention instructed his then principal secretary Muhammad Azam Khan to prepare minutes by changing the cipher text for his personal interest at the cost of national security in this secret meeting. ‘.
The FIR alleged that the copy of the cipher sent to the Prime Minister’s Office was deliberately kept by the then Prime Minister Imran Khan with ulterior motives and never returned to the Ministry of External Affairs.
It was further informed that ‘the said cipher (classified secret document) is still illegally in the possession of Imran Khan, the entire cipher security system of the state and the Pakistani missions abroad due to the unauthorized acquisition and misuse of the cipher telegram by the named person. The encrypted messaging mechanism has been compromised’.
The FIR stated that the actions of the accused directly or indirectly benefited external powers and caused damage to the state of Pakistan.
The case registered in the FIA further states that ‘the Competent Authority has approved the registration of the case, hence the FIA Anti-Terrorism Wing at the Islamabad Police Station under Sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act, Pakistan Penal Code. A case has been filed against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi under Section 34 of the Criminal Code for misuse of official secret information and illegal acquisition of Cipher Telegram (official secret document) under malicious intent. The role of Khan as Principal Secretary, former Federal Minister Asad Umar and other involved aides will be determined during the investigation.
The FIA is currently investigating the disappearance of diplomatic ciphers from Attock jailed PTI chairman Imran Khan, which he has described as an ‘external conspiracy’ to topple his government.
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