Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday issued a stay order on PTI founder Imran Khan’s trial in the cipher case till January 11.
IHC judge Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb heard Imran Khan’s petition challenging the in-camera cipher trial — being conducted at Adiala Jail.
At the outset, Justice Aurangzeb said the court needed answers to two questions.
“This court had ordered that an open trial should be held, why are in-camera proceedings being held? Security is not the court’s jurisdiction and we won’t interfere in this,” the judge remarked.
The Special Court (Official Secrets Act) had begun the cipher trial afresh last week at the Adiala district jail after Imran and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi were indicted for a second time in the case on Dec 13.
Last week, the Supreme Court had approved the post-arrest bails of Imran and Qureshi.
The cipher case is related to a piece of paper that former premier Imran Khan had waved at a public rally last year ahead of a vote of confidence that he lost. Later naming the US, the PTI founder had claimed that the cipher was 'evidence' of an 'international conspiracy' to topple his government.
