RAWALPINDI: Special Court of Official Secrets Act Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain heard the Cypher case against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Adiala Jail on Wednesday.
Today was fixed for the indictment of PTI Founder and PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, but there are contradictory claims about their indictment.
Government lawyers, while speaking to the media outside Adiala Jail, said that Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi were indicted in the case, while they pleaded not guilty to the charges.
They mentioned that the judge read out the two-page charge sheet. The accused denied the charges, and the court summoned the prosecution’s evidence.
The allegations laid out include damage to national identity, security, and foreign affairs due to a failure to return the cipher during his tenure as prime minister, according to one of the charges.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi immediately refuted the accusations upon their announcement.
In response, Imran Khan engaged in a conversation with Judge Zulqarnain, stating that he had exposed both national and foreign establishment wrongdoings. He argued that this “cruelty” should also be considered a crime on his part.
Imran Khan questioned the feasibility of being both the victim of a government overthrow and the accused in a crime simultaneously, emphasizing the paradoxical nature of the situation.
Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi are facing charges in the cypher case.
Both leaders pleaded not guilty to the charges. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Special Prosecutors Shah Khawar and Zulfikar Abbas Naqvi, along with defense lawyers Usman Gul and Barrister Taimur Malik, were present in court.
After the indictment, the regular trial for the cypher case is set to commence in Adiala Jail. Barrister Salman Safdar, Imran Khan’s lawyer, mentioned that charges were not framed against Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi in their presence. He raised concerns about the lack of an open trial in the cipher case, alleging that only selected media had been invited. The judge assured that he would investigate the matter.
Yesterday, the court addressed six separate petitions related to the copy of challan, notification, and media access, ultimately setting December 13 as the date for the indictment.
