The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday rejected former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's pleas seeking bail and cancellation of the complaint against him in the cipher case. The 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was indicted along with his deputy Shah Mahmood Qureshi on October 23.
According to Geo News, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq announced the verdict previously reserved on October 16. Imran's counsel Sardar Latif Khosa had argued that an FIR could not be registered against the ex-PM since his federal cabinet had declassified the cipher.
The PTI chairman had challenged the registration of the FIR and sought bail in the case filed against him and the party’s vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi for misusing the secret document for their political gains. The IHC had rejected Imran's pleas to stop trial in the matter on October 26.
What is the cipher case?
Khan and Qureshi were indicted by a special court established under the Official Secrets Act hearing the case in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where Imran is currently imprisoned. The case pertains to when Imran alleged that the US orchestrated a plan to remove him from office and brandished a cipher at a public rally to back his claims. The US has time and again denied such allegations, terming them "categorically false".
According to Khan's then-principal secretary Azam Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was allegedly “euphoric” after seeing the cipher and decided to use it to build an “anti-establishment narrative” on the back of a "blunder" committed by the US. The cipher mysteriously 'went missing' from Khan's possession.
“The cipher copy was retained by Imran Khan and the next day (March 10) when he asked for it, Imran Khan replied that he had misplaced it,” the confession statement said, adding that the PTI chief did not return the original cipher despite repeated requests.
On September 30, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted a chargesheet to the court declaring the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief and vice-president 'guilty' in the alleged disclosure of state secrets.
The FIA has requested the special court to start the trial and sentence them in accordance with the law. Additionally, PTI's former general secretary Asad Umar's name has not been added to the list of accused. Imran's former principal secretary Azam Khan has been named as a "strong witness" in the case.
The FIA also attached the transcript of the PTI chief and Qureshi's speech on March 27 when Imran brandished a letter in public, claiming it was a cipher from a foreign nation that wanted to oust his government from power. Imran was ousted by a no-confidence motion in 2022.
Imran and Qureshi have both denied the charges against them. Notably, Imran has been incarcerated since August 5, after an Islamabad court sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case. His Toshakhana sentence was later suspended by the IHC but he was arrested in the cipher case.
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