RAWALPINDI: The special court has decided to indict Former PTI chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi on December 12 in the cypher case.
Formed under the Official Secrets Act, the court commenced the hearing of cypher case under Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain in the Adiala Jail. During the trial, PTI lawyers argued that the trial had been conducted under the Criminal Act 1952, which was amended in 1958 and hence the court could not continue the trial without clarification on the matter.
In reply, the prosecutor stated that notification issued by the law and justice ministry clarified that the trial proceeded as per the law in the special ccourt. After distributing copies of the challan to the respondents, the special court decided to indict Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi in cypher case.
Note that the first information report (FIR) of the case was registered on August 15 on the complaint of the Home Secretary, under the Official Secrets Act. The report nominated former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi along with former principal secretary Azam Khan and former planning minister Asad Umar.
The FIR claimed that the contents of the cypher were misused following a conspiracy to fulfil nefarious purposes. It added that Imran Khan and top diplomat endangered the state interests. Further, the FIR blamed the former prime minister and foreign minister for distorting the facts of the diplomatic cypher.
