ISLAMABAD: In a boost for PTI, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday declared as null and void the proceedings of party chief Imran Khan’s trial conducted in jail in the cipher case.
As a result, Imran and his aide Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s Oct 23 indictments in the case also stand null and void, and the trial will be conducted again in open court.
The verdict, which was reserved earlier in the day, was issued on an intra-court appeal filed by Imran against a single-member bench’s decision approving his jail trial in the cipher case.
It must be noted that on August 29, the IHC had suspended the PTI chief’s sentence in the Toshakhana case, but a special court established under the Official Secrets Act had directed jail authorities to keep Imran in “judicial lockup” in the cipher case.
A notification issued by the law ministry the same day had stated that the Law and Justice Division had “no objection” to Imran’s trial in the cipher case being held at Attock jail. In September, Imran was shifted to Adiala jail.
In the verdict, an IHC division bench, comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, declared Imran’s intra-court appeal maintainable.
The short order said that the notification issued by the law ministry on August 29 was declared to be “without lawful authority and no legal effect for want of an order by the appropriate government and fulfillment of requirements provided in Section 352 of the CrPC as well as Rule 3 in Part-A of Chapter-1 in Volume-III of the Rules and Orders of the Lahore High Court.”
Further, the order said that the “designation of the Special Court (Anti-Terrorism-I) Islamabad, to try cases reported under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 through notification dated 27.06.2023 issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice is valid and lawful.”
The order said that there was no provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure which compelled the magistrate to hold court in a usual courtroom.
“In exceptional circumstances and where it is conducive to justice, a trial can be conducted in jail in a manner that fulfills the requirements of an open trial or a trial in-camera provided it is in accordance with the procedure provided by law,” it said.
Further, notifications issued by the law ministry regarding Imran’s jail trial on September 12, September 25, October 3, October 13 were declared to be “without lawful authority and no legal effect”.
Moreover, notifications issued by the law ministry on November 13 and November 15 after decisions taken by the cabinet were “declared to be of no legal consequence”. The court said that the November 15 notification “cannot be given retrospective effect”.
The order said, “Consequently, the proceedings with effect from August 29 and the trial conducted […] in jail premises in a manner that cannot be termed as an open trial stand vitiated,” the order said. –Agencies
