Pak caretaker government moves SC against Islamabad HC's verdict nullifying Imran Khan's jail trial in cipher case

Islamabad, Jan 19 (PTI) Pakistan's caretaker government on Friday challenged in the Supreme Court the Islamabad High Court's verdict nullifying the jail trial of former prime minister Imran Khan in the cipher case for allegedly leaking state secrets.
    In its petition filed in Pakistan's Supreme Court, the federal government implored the apex court to overturn the Islamabad High Court's decision, saying that the high court did not evaluate the facts of the case properly.
    Advocate Rizwan Abbasi submitted the petition on behalf of the federal ministries of law and interior, contending that the IHC order was “not in consonance with the law” and “travelled beyond the jurisdiction”.
     "In the petition, the government contended that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) did not have the authority to declare a special court formed to hold the cipher trial of the former premier as invalid," said Abbasi.
    The case is related to a diplomatic cable sent by the Pakistan embassy in March 2022 and Khan, 71, and one of his senior ministers Shah Mahmood Qureshi are accused of mishandling it for political purposes. Both were indicted last month and both pleaded not guilty.
    In November last year, IHC nullified the notification for conducting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Khan's jail trial in the cipher case registered on charges of leaking state secrets.
    The IHC stated in the three-page short order that the jail trial can be conducted in "exceptional circumstances".
    "In exceptional circumstances and where it is conducive to justice, a trial can be conducted in jail in a manner that fulfils the requirements of an open trial or a trial in camera provided it is in accordance with the procedure provided by law."
    The court also declared that the November 15 notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice after the caretaker Cabinet's approval of the jail trial "cannot be given retrospective effect".
    In a related development Azam Khan, the former principal secretary to the ex-prime minister, on Thursday testified before the special court that the ex-premier failed to return the secret cipher document provided to him by the foreign ministry.
    The Express Tribune reported that Azam Khan in his statement said that the foreign secretary informed him about the cipher telegram and provided him with a copy, which he reviewed and later shared with the former prime minister.
    Azam Khan stated that Imran informed him that former foreign minister Qureshi had already discussed the content of the telegram with him. The cipher telegram was related to meetings of the Pakistan ambassador to the US with American officials.
    “The former premier retained the copy of the cipher with him and instructed the military secretary, DC, and other staff to look into the matter. He also emphasized taking the public into confidence on the matter,” he said.
    Azam Khan said that he suggested to the former PM to have a formal meeting with the foreign ministry.
    "I recommended that the foreign secretary should be asked to read the message from the master cipher. In the Bani Gala meeting, the foreign secretary read out the cipher telegram. The participants later decided to present the cipher matter in front of the federal cabinet.
    “In the federal cabinet meeting, it was decided to bring the matter before the National Security Committee (NSC), which decided to issue a demarche on foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country.”
    According to Azam Khan, it has been a tradition to return the copy of a cipher to the foreign ministry, but this did not happen in this case.
    “I informed the PM, the PM Office, and staff multiple times that the cipher copy should be returned, but it was not returned until I left my charge,” he said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)