The law ministry has sent out a notice that the special court will restart the cipher trial against former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tomorrow at the Adiala jail.
In the cypher case, Imran, who was prime minister at the time, waved a document around at a public gathering in March of last year, saying it was proof of a foreign plot to get rid of him from office. A few weeks later, the move passed, and Imran’s government was over.
During today’s proceedings, court staff told Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain that they had not gotten any notice from the law ministry to hold the trial at Adiala jail. The judge said that a decision would be made as soon as he or she got the notice. Since the notice wasn’t there, Judge Zulqarnain said he was going to order Imran and Qureshi to appear in front of the special court at the FJC.
After that, on November 29, the law ministry’s notice was brought to court, which gave “sanction for conducting the proceedings and trial” at Adiala jail.
Ali Bukhari, Qureshi’s lawyer, claimed that his client should be brought to court and stressed the importance of following the order from the previous hearing.
Judge Zulqarnain suggested a review as soon as the jail trial notice arrived. He did this by referring to the court’s own order from November 23 and telling the lawyers to read the order from November 28 for more information. The defence lawyer said that the order wasn’t proper and that the restrictions on photography and videography at Adiala jail needed to be looked at again so that reporters could get access.
The judge asked if the court had the power to deal with threats, which brought up the importance of reports. The security reports that were attached to the letter from the Adiala jail director were accepted, and Judge Zulqarnain thought it was very important that reporters be there.
Qureshi’s lawyer said that the Nov. 28 order was missing some instructions for his client. Bukhari insisted on reasons for having the hearing in jail, stressing that all proceedings had to happen in front of the suspects and in line with the IHC’s orders.
Judge Zulqarnain said again that they would do justice and made it clear that it would be seen also. He made it clear that the court had to hold the jail hearing, no matter how bad the conditions were in the jail. While waiting for the law ministry to respond, the defence lawyer advised moving the court to the jail, pointing out that the IHC was more worried about where the trial would take place than whether the proceedings were legal.
The defence lawyer asked the law ministry to let them know that holding Imran and Qureshi after the November 28 order was illegal. Imran’s sister asked when the judge thought it would arrive, and the judge said that he would ask for it if it didn’t.
After the break, it was confirmed that the notification from the law minister had been received. The hearing was then put off until the next day, and it was emphasised how important it was to notify the IHC.
The lawyers for the PTI wanted a hearing on December 5, but the prosecutor for the Federal Investigation Agency wanted the case to start right away at Adiala jail. Even though these people asked the judge to delay the hearing until Saturday, he did so while also hearing a plea about the appearance of PTI leaders in court.
Imran files a plea to avoid going to jail.
Imran made a plea against the order to bring up his trial again in jail. The plea says that the court has set November 28 as the date of the jail trial. The order from November 28 is not legal because of the order from November 23. So, the order from November 23 is being asked to be carried out.
Sardar Latif Khosa, a lawyer for the PTI, had said earlier that he would bring up the fact that the judge’s decision meant that the jail warden would be able to choose who would go to court for the hearing, which was both illegal and against the constitution.
