ISLAMABAD: Former foreign minister and Vice Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday moved the Supreme Court to secure bail in the cypher case.
The PTI stalwart appealed against an earlier Islamabad High Court decision rejecting his bail and requested to annul the high court’s decision on the matter. The petition further contended that the subordinate courts did not examine the facts of the case in a proper manner and the case itself is politically motivated.
Moreover, the petition added that FIR does not comply with the law. Qureshi added that the FIR filed in the cypher case has no direct connection with him. The petition further stated that Qureshi enjoys immunity under Article 248 of the Constitution on the basis of being the foreign minister. Earlier, Qureshi’s bail application was rejected by the IHC in a hearing conducted by Justcie Aamer Farooq.
Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said in his judgment that the jail trial did not mean in-camera proceedings but rather an open trial.
The chief justice ruled that no proceedings could be declared null and void merely because they were conducted at the wrong place, adding that the proceedings could not be set aside unless failure to deliver justice was evident.
Moreover, Justice Farooq directed the special court trying the cipher case against Imran Khan and Qureshi to complete the proceedings in four weeks.
Qureshi, along with PTI Chairman Imran Khan, is currently lodged in the Adaila Jail and the cipher case was being heard against them in the prison. –Agencies
