Former foreign minister and PTI heavyweight Shah Mahmood Qureshi petitioned the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday to overturn directives regarding his physical remand.

Petition against three orders of physical remand passed by the trial court on August 20, 21, and 25 by the PTI vice-chairman who was detained in the cypher case initiated under the Official Secrets Act 1923.
According to the petition, the Official Secrets Act court’s decision to issue a physical remand should be overturned and a judicial remand should be issued. A “malicious case” was brought against Qureshi with the “connivance of the federal government” for “political vendetta,” the document added.
Qureshi continued by saying the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) looked into the matter. The cypher telegram was not taken, and the transcript was not shared with anyone without permission. He said, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has records proving that the cypher is in their possession.”
The physical remand of Qureshi in the Cypher case has been extended.
Despite all of this, the PTI leader insisted, he was detained by the FIA and placed on physical remand. Despite the prosecution’s inability to present evidence, the trial judge ordered physical remand. He reasoned, “But even in the FIR, the cypher is said to be in the custody of someone else. There has been a petition filed, and the federation and the home secretary have been made parties.
Finally, Qureshi claimed that he had delivered the message to the then-prime minister in accordance with his legal obligations as foreign minister.
The FIA took Qureshi into custody last week at his home in the nation’s capital.
Former prime minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Qureshi were among those booked by the agency for “wrongful use” of official secret information and illegal preservation of the cypher telegram with malicious intent.
According to the FIR No. 6/2023, former planning minister Asad Umar, former principal secretary to the prime minister Azam Khan, and other associates’ roles would be determined during the course of investigations.
On the complaint of the then Interior Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, the CTW of the FIA filed a case in Islamabad under Section 5 (wrongful communication, etc., of information) and Section 9 (attempts, incitements, etc.) of the Official Secrets Act of 1923 read with Section 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
According to the FIR, the FIA’s CTW registered the case after receiving enquiry No. 111/2023 on October 5, 2022.
It stated that Imran, Qureshi, and their associates “twist[ed] the facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security,” referring to the dissemination of information from a secret classified document, a cypher telegram received from Parep Washington on March 7, 2022, by the foreign affairs secretary, to unauthorised persons (public at large).