Bail pleas of Imran Khan, Qureshi in cipher case rejected

The Special Court hearing cases under the Official Secrets Act on Thursday rejected the bail applications of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case.

Special court’s judge Abul Hasanat Muhammad Zulqarnain delivered the verdict against PTI leaders.

In recent legal developments, the same court that had earlier granted pre-arrest bail to former federal minister and PTI leader Asad Umar in the cipher case.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan had been sent to jail on August 5 due to his conviction in the Toshakhana case.

However, on August 29, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had suspended his sentence.

Subsequently, a special court had directed Attock jail authorities to keep him in “judicial lockup” in relation to the cipher case.

On Tuesday, the IHC reserved its verdict on a petition filed by the PTI chairman, challenging the law ministry’s decision to conduct the cipher case trial at Attock jail.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq reserved the verdict after hearing arguments and seeking an explanation from the respondents.

Regarding the cipher case, an FIR was registered on August 15 under the Official Secrets Act, initiated by the complaint of the Home Secretary.

It had named former Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Additionally, former Principal Secretary Azam Khan and former Planning Minister Asad Umar were also mentioned in connection with the case.

The FIR alleged that Azam Khan and Asad Umar had been involved in misusing classified documents and that a conspiracy had been initiated to exploit the contents of the cipher for malicious purposes.

It claimed that former Prime Minister Khan had asked Azam Khan to manipulate the cipher’s contents and deliberately retained a copy of the diplomatic cipher sent to the Prime Minister’s office, potentially endangering state interests.