Rawalpindi (Web Desk): A special court formed to hear cases under Special Secret Act on Tuesday handed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi 10 years jail sentence in cipher case.
Special court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain announced the verdict during the hearing held at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
At the outset of the hearing, Imran and Qureshi were given a questionnaire under Section 342 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
After the former premier recorded his statement, the court asked him about the whereabouts of the cipher, to which he replied: “I have said the same in my statement that I do not know. The cipher was in my office.”
Before announcing the verdict, Judge Zulqarnain, during the hearing, reminded the PTI leaders that their lawyers were not appearing in court and were given state lawyers.
On January 27, the special court appointed state counsels for both Khan and Qureshi in the case as lawyers representing the accused were absent from court proceedings.
The court had ruled that Malik Abdul Rehman will represent Khan while Hazrat Younus will represent Qureshi in the case and cross-examine the witnesses.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the charge sheet claims was never returned by the former premier.
The PTI alleges that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran from office.
Former premier Imran Khan was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in the Toshakhana graft case on Aug 5, 2023.
The IHC suspended his sentence on August 29 but he remained in jail because he was on judicial remand in the cipher case.
On September 30, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had submitted a challan, a charge sheet, in a special court established under the Official Secrets Act naming Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi as the principal accused in the case. The two pleaded not guilty.
Previously, the cipher trial had started inside the Adiala jail but an Islamabad High Court (IHC) division bench later annulled all those proceedings, ordering a fresh open court trial.