A special court established under the Official Secrets Act 2023 Tuesday deferred the indictment of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and his party's Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case until the next week. The hearing of the case was held at the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi where the judge of the special court, Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, oversaw the proceedings, scheduling the indictment for the next hearing. The framing of charges against the PTI leaders was put off due to the non-provision of the case challans' copies to the accused during the previous hearing. During the hearing, the court distributed copies of the challan among the accused and adjourned the hearing of the case for a week.

During the course of the hearing, the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) special prosecutor, Shah Khawar, appeared in the court while both Khan and Qureshi were also produced in the courtroom set-up in the prison.  The court had fixed October 17 (today) as the date of indictment for both politicians in the case with the challan already issued on October 9 and its copies could not be shared with the accused. "The accused had refused to receive a copy of the challan at the previous hearing," the special prosecutor said.

After the charges are framed, the evidence of the prosecution is recorded and the case trial begins. Subsequently, the testimonies and statements of the accused are recorded by the court.  Speaking with journalists outside the Adiala jail before the hearing, a member of the PTI chief's legal team, Umair Niazi, said that the copies were not provided to them in the previous hearing.  He also said that the prosecution's Section 14 plea was not allowed by the court. "The hearing in the jail should not be in-camera and the media should have access," he said, adding that this will be discussed today. It should be noted that the Islamabad High Court (IHC), a day earlier, reserved its ruling on petitions filed by PTI chief seeking post-arrest bail and quashing of the cipher case registered against him.

On August 18, the ousted premier was booked under the Official Secrets Act 1923 in the cipher case after the FIA invoked Section 5 of the said law. The diplomatic cable reportedly went missing from Imran's possession. According to the former ruling party, the cable contained a threat from the US to topple the PTI’s government. Imran is currently in Adiala jail on judicial remand in the cipher case. He was taken into custody after being sentenced to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case on August 5, 2023. Initially, he was kept in Attock jail but later he was moved to Adiala jail on his request. It is pertinent to mention here that the IHC on August 29 had suspended the sentence handed down to the PTI chairman in the Toshakhana case but he remained behind bars due to his arrest in the cipher case.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)