Special court in Islamabad on Friday granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s three-day physical remand in a case pertaining to a diplomatic cipher that reportedly went missing from ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s custody. Judge Abu Al-Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain heard the case against Shah Mahmood Qureshi under Official Secrets Act 2023. At the outset of the hearing, the FIA lawyer pleaded with the court for 9-day physical remand of the former foreign minister for recovery of cipher copy, while Shoaib Shaheen, Qureshi’s lawyer, opposed the request. Later, the court extended the physical remand of Shah Mahmood Qureshi for three days and asked the investigating officer to present Qureshi again on August 28.

 Qureshi, who served as foreign minister, was arrested in the capital Islamabad last week. The first information report (FIR) was registered on August 15 under the Official Secrets Act. It was registered on the complaint of Home Secretary. Former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were nominated in the report, while names of former principal secretary Azam Khan and former planning minister Asad Umar were also mentioned. According to the report, action also will be taken against Azam Khan and Asad Umar after the authorities reached the conclusion that they were also involved in misusing the classified documents.

The FIR stated that the former prime minister and foreign minister distorted the facts of the diplomatic cipher. “A conspiracy was launched to misuse the contents of the cipher to fulfill nefarious purposes”, it added. It further stated that former premier and top diplomat endangered the state interests. The report claimed that former prime minister asked Azam Khan – the then principal secretary – to “manipulate the contents of cipher”. “The former premier deliberately kept the copy of diplomatic cipher, which was sent to the PM office”, it added.

 
Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)