Islamabad (Web Desk): The special court, formed to hear cases under Special Secret Act, on Monday issued notices for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former premier Imran Khan and party's vice chairman Shah Mahmood to appear on October 4 in the cipher.
The development came as the court officially began hearing the case following the submission of the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) challan, naming the two PTI leaders as accused.
On September 30, FIA nominated PTI chief Imran Khan and party's vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi as accused in the cipher case in an investigation report submitted to the special Official Secrets Act court.
According to details, the FIA maintained that the PTI chief and Shah Mahmood should be tried and sentenced.
Former principal secretary of ex-PM Imran, Azam Khan Azam Khan's statements, under Sections 161 and 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, as the FIA's witness have also been attached to the challan.
The statement said that the former premier kept the cipher with him and misused a state secret.
Khan has been accused of not returning the copy of the cipher.
Meanwhile, the challan maintains that Qureshi delivered a speech on March 27 and assisted the PTI chairman.
The transcript of the speeches given by Imran and Qureshi on March 27 have also been attached in the challan.
Additionally, the investigation body has also submitted a list of 28 witnesses to the court, with statements of 27 of them attached to the challan.
The witnesses listed in the special court's challan include former foreign secretaries Asad Majeed and Sohail Mehmood. Moreover, the FIA has also listed Additional Foreign Secretary Faisal Niaz Timrizi as another key witness.
In the previous hearing on September 26, the special court extended Imran Khan and Qureshi’s judicial remand in the cipher case till October 10.
