Indictment of Imran, Qureshi in cipher case adjourned till next week

The special court on Tuesday adjourned the indictment of PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case till October 23.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that reportedly went missing from Imran’s possession. The PTI alleges that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran from office.
The PTI chief was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in the Toshakhana graft case on August 5, 2023. He was subsequently shifted to Attock jail, but the IHC later suspended his sentence. However, Imran remained in jail because he was on judicial remand in the cipher case.
On September 25, the IHC accepted Imran’s petition to be shifted to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi from Attock district jail.
On September 30, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted a challan —a charge sheet — in the Special Court established under the Official Secrets Act, naming the former prime minister and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as the principal accused in the cipher case.
Imran has filed several petitions in the IHC, including two seeking to stay his jail trial and bail in the cipher case, another seeking to suspend the Toshakhana verdict, and one against his indictment in the cipher case.
Today, Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain began the in-camera hearing of the cipher case at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
State prosecutor Zulfikar Abbas Naqvi was present while the FIA’s team, along with the investigation officer, also appeared before the court. Barrister Salman Safdar and Khalid Yousuf Chaudhry were present as Imran’s counsels.
Qureshi’s wife and daughter, Mehreen and Mehr Bano, respectively, also reached the court. However, it was not confirmed whether they were allowed to attend the hearing or not.
As per the court’s orders of October 9, both PTI leaders had been expected to be indicted in the case today.
However, the indictment could not take place today with the court only distributing the copies of the challan (charge sheet) among the suspects.
Both, Imran and Qureshi, accepted the copies of the challan today and signed them. Subsequently, the court decided to adjourn the hearing and the indictment till October 23.
Source: dawnnews.com