Islamabad (Web Desk): The caretaker federal cabinet has granted approval for the jail trial of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former premier Imran Khan and party's Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cipher case.
The federal cabinet approved the summary forwarded by the Ministry of Law to allow jail trial of both Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, citing security concerns.
In the summary, the law ministry wrote that it had issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) for the jail trial on August 29 which was requested by the Interior Ministry and Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain.
"The jail trial was requested for the PTI chairman keeping in view the security concerns," said the summary.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is set to hear Imran Khan's intra-court appeal against the jail trial on November 14, seeking arguments from the attorney general.
The former prime minister, who was deposed from office after a no-confidence motion in April last year, had moved IHC against the jail trial which was rejected by the court's single bench on October 16 which found no apparent malice behind conducting Khan's jail trial in the cipher case, and directed him to approach the trial court if reservations persist.
Later, Khan filed an intra-court appeal against the single bench's decision.
Both Khan and Qureshi were booked under the Official Secrets Act 1923 in the cipher case after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) invoked Section 5 of the said law in August of this year
it is pertinent to mention that both PTI leaders are facing allegations related to a missing diplomatic cable, and are currently detained in Adiala jail.
