Islamabad: Judge orders Imran, Qureshi to be presented in FJC on Nov 28: The special court overseeing the cypher case has issued an order for the presence of Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Vice-Chairman, at the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) in Islamabad on November 28. Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain issued the directives, and Ali Bhukari and Khalid Yusuf, the legal representatives of former Foreign Minister Qureshi, were also present in court. The judge requested a copy of the Islamabad High Court’s order, which was provided by court staff. Subsequently, he ordered that the former Prime Minister and former Foreign Minister appear in court on November 28.
The cypher case pertains to a document that Imran, who was the Prime Minister at the time, waved at a public rally in March of the previous year. He claimed it as evidence of a foreign conspiracy behind the no-confidence motion he faced. The motion was passed a few weeks later, leading to the end of Imran’s government.
Imran had filed a separate petition with the Islamabad High Court opposing the Federal Investigation Agency’s request to conduct the case’s proceedings within the jail premises. However, the High Court dismissed the plea last week, stating that an in-camera trial would be advantageous for the PTI leader and directing him to address the matter with the trial court.
Earlier this week, the Islamabad High Court declared the proceedings of Imran Khan’s jail trial in the cypher case to be null and void. The appointment of the judge to the special court formed under the Official Secrets Act was deemed valid.
During the hearing of Imran’s intra-court appeal against a decision approving his jail trial in the cypher case and the appointment of the judge to the special court, the Islamabad High Court division bench, comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, confirmed the admissibility of the appeal. The court determined that the notification issued by the law ministry on August 29, stating that the Law and Justice Division had no objection to Imran Khan’s jail trial at Attock jail, lacked legal authority and effect because it did not meet the requirements outlined in Section 352 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Rule 3 in Part-A of Chapter-1 in Volume-III of the Rules and Orders of the Lahore High Court.
In its brief ruling, the court also declared that the law ministry’s notifications regarding Imran’s jail trial issued on September 12, September 25, October 3, and October 13 were without legal authority and effect. Additionally, the notifications issued on November 13 and November 15 by the law ministry, subsequent to decisions made by the cabinet, were deemed legally insignificant. The court stated that the November 15 notification could not retroactively apply. Consequently, the proceedings from August 29 onwards, including the trial conducted within the jail premises, which cannot be considered an open trial, are considered invalid according to the court’s order.
