A special court on Wednesday extended former prime minister Imran Khan’s and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s judicial remand in the cipher case till September 26.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document which reportedly went missing from Imran’s possession. The PTI alleges that it contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran from power.
Following the suspension of the PTI chairman’s three-year jail term in the Toshakhana case, it emerged that he had been in judicial remand in the cipher case, which was extended till September 13 last week.
The same day, Imran had approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the appointment of Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge, to the special court established to hear cases filed under the Official Secrets Act.
The PTI has been criticising Judge Zulqarnain’s absence from the hearings, which sources in the judiciary said was due to his wife being sick and in critical condition.
Imran’s 14-day judicial remand expired on Tuesday, and as per the law ministry’s fresh notification issued the same day, Judge Zulqarnain had requested that proceedings be held in Attock jail “due to security reasons”.
Also yesterday, the IHC reserved its order on a petition challenging the conduct of the PTI chief’s trial in prison rather than in Islamabad.
Today, the special court resumed the proceedings after the law ministry’s notification expressed no objections to conducting the trial in Attock jail.
Strict security arrangements were made outside the Attock jail ahead of the hearing. The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) team and nine lawyers of Imran’s legal team were allowed inside the jail and were present during the in-camera hearing.
At the outset of the hearing, the former premier’s attendance was marked.
The court then extended Imran’s judicial remand for another 14 days, his lawyer Naeem Haider Panjotha confirmed on X (formerly Twitter).
Subsequently, the court directed that Imran be presented again on September 26 and also directed the FIA to submit a challan in the case by then.
In another post on X, Panjotha the judge assured him that the hearing on Imran’s bail plea would be held tomorrow.
“Tomorrow, judge sahib should hear both sides’ arguments and make a decision,” he said.
