The special court adjourned on Tuesday the hearing of the cypher case against former premier Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi postponing the indictment till October 23.

During the hearing at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, held in-camera before special court judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain, the court was informed that all case documents had been provided to the defence.

The defence team had refused to accept the case challan at the previous hearing.

During today’s proceedings, the defence lawyer raised an objection to holding Qureshi’s trial in prison.

At this, the prosecutor said that a notification had been issued in this regard by the federal government.

The defence argued that given that the notification was issued today (Tuesday), all prior proceedings were illegal as were the case documents given then.

Read OSA Section 5 doesn’t apply to Imran, IHC told

The hearing was adjourned after case documents were provided to the defence team again.

The judge remarked that the indictment process will be initiated at the next hearing.

In prison trial

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday disposed of a petition submitted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan against the trial being conducted inside jail premises, directing the petitioner to approach the trial court on the matter.

Announcing the reserved verdict on the PTI chief’s petition, Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that keeping in view the security issue, trial inside the jail was in favour of Imran. He added that Imran had expressed concerns about his security several times.

The court further said in the judgment that there appeared to be no mala fide intent in holding the trial within prison premises. However, the chief justice added that if the petitioner had any reservations, he could approach the trial court.

The cypher case pertains to a document waved by Imran, the then-prime minister, at a public rally in March last year, terming it evidence of a foreign conspiracy behind the no-confidence motion he faced at that time. The motion was carried a few weeks later and Imran’s government ended.

The IHC last week, clubbed Imran’s other petitions, seeking dismissal of the case and stopping his trial by the Special Court, established under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

On Saturday, the PTI chairman filed another plea in the IHC seeking exemption under Article 248 of the Constitution.In the petition, it was stated that Section 5 of the OSA did not apply to the cypher case. The court had issued a notice to the FIA and sought its response by Monday. The court also clubbed the petition with Imran’s other pleas against the case.

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Imran’s other petitions, including his bail application were taken up the IHC on Monday. During the hearing, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) special prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi presented the chain of custody of the cypher in the court.

The special prosecutor said that former foreign secretary Asad Majeed and former principal secretary to prime minister Azam Khan were the main witnesses, besides three statements by experts had also been included in the case.

Abbasi said that the petitioner was seeking immunity under the Article 248, but added that this article did not apply to him. On an objection raised by PTI lawyer Salman Safdar, the chief justice remarked that he only wanted to understand the chain of custody of the cypher.

Imran lawyer Sardar Latif Khosa argued in the court that no one had denied the text of the cypher. He added that the prime minister was the representative of the people, he had to see how to have the country’s relations with other states.

Khosa also pointed out that the cypher was declassified by the federal cabinet. Concluding his arguments, Khosa requested the court to dismiss the cypher case against the PTI chairman lodged under the OSA and stop the trial. Later the court reserved its ruling.