Pakistan court withdraws stay order on Imran Khan in Cipher case

Imran Khan. File pic

A high court in Pakistan on Thursday withdrew its stay order on jailed former PM Imran Khan's in-camera trial in the cipher case while declaring all proceedings in the case after December 14 as void and invalid.

Justice Miangul Aurangzeb of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) heard the appeal against the in-camera trial of 71-year-old Khan and his 67-year-old former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

The special court judge Abual Hasnat Zulqernain on December 14 had ordered an in-camera trial due to involvement of sensitive matter, and it was challenged in IHC which had stopped the trial of the case till January 11.

Attorney General Mansoor Awan and Khan's lawyer Salman Akram Raja appeared in court.

Justice Aurangzeb told Awan that if he wanted the proceedings to start again, then he should do it from the date the order was passed. A relevant order will also be issued on the matter.

The attorney general in his response assured to start the proceedings again, adding that 13 witnesses were ready to have their statements recorded again. After the assurance, the court annulled all proceedings of the cipher case trial after December 14 and cancelled the stay order.

The case is related to a cable sent by the Pakistan embassy in March 2022 and Khan and Qureshi are accused of mishandling it for political purposes. Both were indicted last month and both pleaded not guilty.

The Federal Investigation Agency registered the case on August 15 and the trial is being held in the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi. Khan and several of his party leaders have been facing numerous cases since the ouster of the party from power in April 2022 and later in the wake of the May 9 violence last year.

Khan was ousted through a vote of no-confidence in April 2022. He was incarcerated on August 5 last year, after an Islamabad court sentenced him to three years in prison in the Toshakhana case. He was lodged in the Attock District Jail to serve his prison term.

Later, his sentence was suspended by the Islamabad High Court, but then he was arrested in the cipher case and remained in the Attock jail on judicial remand. He was later shifted to Adiala jail.

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