Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan challenged on Wednesday the special court’s October 17 indictment order in the cypher case in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The former prime minister through his counsel, Sher Afzal Marwat, has requested the court to declare the special court’s October 9 order null and void.
In his plea, the ex-premier has argued that the special court had asked him to receive the copies of the case, but he has not done so, adding that the court was initiating the process of indictment without waiting for the IHC’s ruling on his plea challenging the in-camera proceedings of the cypher case.
Two days ago, a special court established under the Official Secrets Act formally commenced the cypher case trial of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, setting October 17 as the date of their indictment.
Special Court Judge Abul Hasanat Zulqarnain ordered the distribution of the copies of the charge-sheet among the accused, rejecting the defence’s plea for delaying the process until the reserved ruling of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on their plea against the in-prison trial was announced.
However, both Imran and Qureshi refused to receive the copies of the charge-sheet and sign the relevant documents. Their lawyers complained that the law and the rules were not being followed, and that they would challenge the decision in the IHC.
The cypher case pertains to a diplomatic document which reportedly went missing from Imran’s possession. Previously, the PTI chief had alleged that the document was the evidence of a foreign conspiracy for removal of his government through a no-confidence motion in April last year.
Imran was arrested and shifted to Attock Jail on August 5, 2023, after an Islamabad court sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case. Following the suspension of his sentence by the IHC, he was arrested in the cipher case and remained incarcerated on judicial remand.
The PTI chief was shifted to Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail from Attock district jail on his appeal in the IHC. On September 26, both the PTI leaders’ judicial remand was extended until October 10. On September 30, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) declared Imran and Qureshi as principal accused in the case.
