Cipher Case: Judge Hearing Bail Pleas Of Imran Khan, Deputy Qureshi Goes On Leave

Islamabad’s special court judge, who has been hearing bail pleas of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi has gone on leave until September 8.

Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain postponed the hearing of post-arrest bail applications of Khan and Qureshi till Monday in the case since the validity of the special court was under scrutiny in the Islamabad High Court.

When 70-year-old Khan’s legal team arrived at the court premises, they found out that Judge Zulqarnain was on leave for a week due to his wife’s illness.

Khan’s lawyer Naeem Haider Panjotha stated that when the legal team arrived at the court premises, they found out that Judge Zulqarnain was on leave for a week.

Subsequently, the legal team reached the courtroom of Judge Raja Javad Abbas and urged him to hear the bail plea. Where, the judge replied that he couldn’t hear the case as he was not the duty judge.

Judge Abbas stated, “There is no notification of the duty judge of the Official Secrets Act. If the Islamabad High Court can mark it, only then I can hear it. I can hear cases of 24 courts as a duty judge but not to the extent of the Official Secrets Act.”

Previously, ATC-I Judge Zulqarnain gave an additional charge of the special court established under the Official Secrets Act to hear matter related to the diplomatic cipher that the Federal Investigation Agency said was misplaced and used by Khan for political purposes.

The purported cipher (secret diplomatic cable) contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan last year.

Khan has come under increased scrutiny following the publication of a purported copy of the secret cable by the US media outlet The Intercept, with many in the previous government led by Shehbaz Sharif pointing fingers at the PTI chief for being the source of the leak.

Qureshi (67-year-old) former foreign minister, was arrested under the Official Secrets Act for violating the secrecy of the official cable sent by the Pakistani embassy in the US to the foreign office when he was the foreign minister.

Khan, who served country’s prime minister until April last year, in current faces around 180 cases. These cases primarily stem from incidents that occurred following the sacking of the Lahore corps commander’s house on May 9.

Khan’s three-year sentence in the Toshakhana corruption case was suspended by a high court, that ordered his release from jail last week, but the embattled former premier’s remand was on Wednesday extended till September 13 by the special court in cipher case.