Court adjourns cypher case hearing without recording testimonies

FIA presented 10 witnesses in court, hearing adjourned till Nov 7

RAWALPINDI:

The special court established to try cases related to the Official Secrets Act on Tuesday adjourned the hearing till November 7 without recording the testimony of any of the 10 witnesses present. 

The witnesses were present in court to testify in the cypher case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi. 

The cypher case, presided by Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain, was heard in Adiala jail to 'protect' former prime minister Imran Khan. The hearing was attended by Chairman PTI Imran, Vice Chairman Qureshi, their legal representatives, and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi.

Judge Abul Hasnat inquired from the FIA prosecutor regarding the sequence for recording witness statements. The FIA presented ten government witnesses, including Imran Sajjad, Aqeel Haider, Shamoon Qaiser, M Afzal, Nader Khan, Iqra Ashraf, Farrukh Abbas, Haseeb bin Aziz, IO Shabbir, and Khushnood.

Their attendance was duly noted, following which, the court decided to adjourn the hearing and summoned the witnesses again on November 7.

Last week, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected PTI chairman's petitions seeking post-arrest bail in the cypher case and the dismissal of its first information report (FIR).

The court observed that prime facie, Section 5(1)(a) (wrongful communication, etc of information) of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 was applicable against the PTI chairman and he was not exempted from the process as a former premier.

It also ruled that the PTI chief, in his capacity as the prime minister, was also not authorised to declassify the diplomatic cypher.

The court noted that according to the prosecution, the cypher was in the possession of the PTI chairman. It added that there was no doubt that there was all the documentary evidence against Imran and bail could not be granted to someone facing “serious charges”.

On Sept 30 this year, the FIA submitted its charge sheet to a special court formed under the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

It claimed in the charge sheet that Imran had violated the Official Secrets Act by unlawfully keeping a diplomatic cipher in his possession. The agency also accused PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi of facilitating Imran while also mentioning his March 27, 2022 speech at a public rally in Islamabad.

Imran had taken out a piece of paper – allegedly the diplomatic cipher – from his pocket and displayed it at that rally, claiming that it was evidence of an "international conspiracy" to topple his government.