Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday rejected pleas of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan seeking bail and cancellation of the first information report (FIR) in the cipher case.
IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Aamir Farooq announced the verdict which was reserved on October 16 after he heard argument from both parties.
During the last hearing, the PTI chief's counsel Barrister Salman Safdar contended that Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act was not applicable in the cipher case.
He said that the section could be invoked for sharing sensitive information with foreigners, and this “main ingredient is missing” in the FIR against the PTI chief.
Khan's lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa argued that a FIR could not be registered against his client since the federal cabinet of the former prime minister declassified the cipher.
He further stated that the ex-premier enjoyed immunity according to Article 248 of the Constitution that protects the president, governor, prime minister, federal minister, minister of state, chief minister and provincial minister for their “act done or purported to be done.”
Imran Khan had challenged the registration of the FIR and sought bail in the case filed against him and the party’s vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi for misusing the secret document for their political gains.
On October 26, the IHC had also rejected Imran Khan’s pleas to stop trial of the cipher case.
While dealing with the request against indictment, the court had instructed that the former premier should be given the right to a transparent trial.
It should be noted that the special court (under the Official Secrets Act) of Islamabad hearing the cipher case had already rejected Imran Khan's bail application, against which the PTI chief had approached the Islamabad High Court.