Imran Khan, leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a former prime minister, petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday for bail following his arrest in connection with the disappearance of a soldier.
Through his lawyer Salman Safdar, Imran has submitted the appeal. In his petition, he contested the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) ruling against halting the procedures of the cypher case against him, dismissing his petitions and authorizing interrogation.
The decision was made after the IHC last week denied Imran’s requests for post-arrest bail and the discharge of the FIR in the Cipher case.
Despite his status as a former prime minister, the court found that Section 5(1)(a) (wrongful communication, etc. of information) of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 applied to the PTI chairman.
They decided that the PTI leader, in his role as prime minister, lacked the authority to decode the diplomatic cipher. The court took note of the prosecution’s claim that the PTI chairman possessed the cypher.
The applications filed by the deposed premier were deemed “without merit” by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who also noted that Imran had alternative options under the Code of Criminal Procedure. The court stressed that Imran’s rally speech was not official government business but rather a political activity.
Furthermore, a special court in Rawalpindi authorized police to interview Imran and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi inside Adiala jail in connection with cases related to the rioting that occurred after the former prime minister’s arrest on May 9.
The FIA sent over its charge sheet in the cipher case to the special court established under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 on September 30 of this year.
It asserted that Imran had broken the law by harboring a diplomatic cipher in his possession, which is a violation of the Official Secrets Act. The CIA also mentioned Imran’s rally address from March 27, 2022 in Islamabad, and accused PTI leader Qureshi of helping Imran.
At a rally, Imran brandished a piece of paper and claimed it was a diplomatic cipher showing a “international conspiracy” to overthrow his administration.
