The same court had earlier granted bail to PTI leader Asad Umar in the same cipher case after the prosecution said that his arrest was not necessary at this stage.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Sept 14th, 2023) A special court made a significant decision on Thursday by denying bail applications for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and the party's vice chairman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in the cipher case.
Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, presiding over the special court, heard the bail applications and subsequently reserved the verdict after PTI's legal representatives presented their arguments.
Later in the proceedings, the judge delivered the reserved verdict, dismissing the post-arrest bail requests of the PTI leaders.
Earlier in the day, the same court, established under the Official Secrets Act, granted bail to PTI leader Asad Umar in the case related to the US cipher. This decision came after a prosecutor informed the judge that Umar's arrest was not necessary at this stage.
Judge Zulqarnain approved Umar's bail on the condition of a surety bond of Rs50,000 and noted that Umar had expressed willingness to cooperate with the cipher probe. However, the prosecution had not pursued an investigation against him in the case.
The judge issued an order stating, "If Asad Umar's arrest is necessary, the FIA [Federal Investigation Agency] will proceed in accordance with the law." He also instructed the FIA to provide advance notice to the PTI leader before making any arrest related to the case.
Last month, the FIA had registered a case against PTI chief Khan and the party's vice chairman, Qureshi, under the Official Secrets Act. The charges alleged that they had mishandled and misused a classified document for their own political gain.
The FIR (First Information Report) filed against the PTI leaders stated, "Consequent upon the conclusion of the enquiry No. 111/2023 dated 05.10.2022, registered in the CTW, FIA Islamabad, it transpired that former prime minister namely Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi, former foreign minister namely Shah Mahmood Qureshi and their other associates are involved in communications of information contained in the secret classified document (Cipher Telegram received from Parep. Washington dated 7th March, 2022 to Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to the unauthorised person (i.e. public at large) by twisting the facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security."
Following these allegations, both leaders were taken into custody as part of the investigation, and a special court was established under the Official Secrets Act to oversee the trial.
In a related development, the special court had extended the judicial remand of Imran and Qureshi in the cipher case until September 26, as decided a day prior.
The cipher controversy originally surfaced on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan, just before his removal in April 2022, displayed a letter, claiming it was a cipher from a foreign nation that suggested his government should be ousted from power. The contents of the letter were not disclosed, nor was the name of the sending nation, until a few days later when Khan identified the United States and named Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs, Donald Lu, as the official seeking his removal.
The cipher pertained to a meeting between former Pakistan ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed, and Donald Lu.
Khan, while claiming to read from the cipher, stated that "all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power."
The matter was taken up by the National Security Committee (NSC) on March 31, leading to a decision to issue a "strong demarche" to the concerned nation for its "blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan."
However, following Imran Khan's removal, then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened another NSC meeting, which concluded that no evidence of a foreign conspiracy in the cipher had been found.
