Special Court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain, who awarded a sentence to the PTI founder in the cipher case, has gone on a two-month leave. Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain was hearing important cases at the Islamabad ATC and with his leave for two months, the cases might face delay, the sources said. They further said that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) has decided to appoint a new judge for the hearing of important cases in Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain’s absence. In this context, a summary to appoint Additional Session Judge Muhammad Ali Waraich as ATC Judge 2 has been forwarded to the Ministry of the law and Justice.

Judge Zulqarnain will remain on leave till April 26. On January 30, a special court hearing cipher case handed a 10-year jail term, each, to former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Both the PTI leaders were accused of conspiracy to misuse the contents of the cipher to fulfill nefarious purposes. The court in its verdict said the prosecution had enough evidence to prove the charges against the former prime minister and ex-foreign minister.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)