A stay order is issued by the court in response to Imran Khan’s plea to halt the trial.
ISLAMABAD: On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court issued a stay that will put an end to the cipher case’s in-camera trial until January 11, 2024.
After Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s petition for stay orders to stop the in-camera trial of the cipher case was heard, the order was made.
Khan had petitioned the IHC earlier today to have the in-camera trial of the cipher case postponed.
The former PTI leader, who is still detained, filed a motion with the IHC last week contesting both his indictment and the proceedings of the special court that was created in accordance with the Official Secrets Act regarding the cipher case.
However, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb of the IHC denied Khan’s plea, which was submitted by his attorney Usman Gul and requested a stay of the trial. The court declared that before making any relevant orders, notices would be sent out.
Regarding this, the IHC sent a notice to the federation and requested that Usman Gul, Khan’s attorney, provide all required paperwork for the cipher trial at the upcoming hearing.
Drawing attention to the purported anomalies in the cipher case, the PTI attorney argued in court that an initial information report (FIR) was submitted prior to the submission of a complaint.
What was the purpose of the petition, the judge asked the attorney for the PTI founder? In response to the judge, the attorney stated, “The point is that the legal procedure was not completed before the indictment.”
He stated that a complaint may be made directly to a court by an official with legal authorization.
“You are saying that an authorised officer can file a complaint directly,” the judge responded.
The attorney for the PTI founder asked the IHC to order the trial court to hold the case’s hearing in five or six days. “The trial court can complete the trial in the meantime,” he stated.
The judge asked, “How many witness statements have been completed so far?”
In response, the attorney stated that out of the 27 witnesses, the statements of 25 had been recorded and that three had finished their cross-examination.
The PTI attorney informed the court that the cipher trial was being held every day.
The notice was delivered in court to Raja Rizwan Abbasi, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor.
Mansoor Usman Awan, the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP), also made an appearance in court and disclosed that the cipher trial has recorded the statements of twenty-five witnesses.
Salman Akram Raja, a PTI attorney who attended the hearing virtually, stated that numerous witness statements were recorded following this court’s decision.
“I can’t ignore the court’s previous proceedings regarding the cipher case,” Judge Aurangzeb declared. The way the cipher trial is being handled worries me.
The trial court judge held the hearing early because he was directed to do so, the court acknowledged.
The IHC judge voiced concerns regarding the in-camera trial, pointing out that an open trial ought to have been conducted during each hearing of the case by a special court judge.
Read More: PML-N, PPP take exception to Imran Khan’s bail in cipher case
In response, the AGP informed the judge that media coverage of the trial proceedings is permitted.
Justice Aurangzeb questioned, “Was the cross-examination of witnesses conducted in the presence of the media?”
The AGP added that the foreign secretary’s statement will also be recorded during the in-camera proceedings, citing the testimony of three witnesses as being relevant to the encoding and decoding of the diplomatic cable.
The judge declared that this is the first trial of its kind and said that the cipher trial is being conducted hurriedly.
The court argued that neither the prosecutors nor the special court judge understood the significance of open hearings.
The court further stated that it remains to be seen if such cases fall under the purview of Article 10-A’s guarantee of a fair trial.
The IHC judge questioned, “What facts were [presented] before the Supreme Court when bail was granted?”
The AGP retorted that the SC had statements from thirteen witnesses. He said, “The Supreme Court was investigating the bail issue.”
Read More: Cipher case: Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood gets bail
“This makes [my statement] clearer,” said Justice Aurangazeb.
The IHC judge further stated that the supreme court stated that they did not have enough evidence to deny bail.
On December 22, 2023, the Supreme Court granted post-arrest bail in the cipher case to Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the vice-chairman of his party.
In the cipher case pertaining to the misuse of diplomatic cable for political purposes, the former foreign minister and the prime minister were instructed to provide a surety bond of one million rupees each.
After the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ruled that the PTI founder and vice-chairman’s jail trial was invalid, the special court created under the Official Secrets Act 2023 indicted the two men in the cipher case once more on December 13
Regarding their involvement in the alleged misuse of diplomatic cable for political purposes, both politicians have entered not guilty pleas.
