Imran Khan approaches SC for post-arrest bail

Imran Khan approaches SC for post-arrest bail. The Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, has applied for bail in the case of the government’s use of ciphers after he was arrested.

The PTI chief, through his counsel Barrister Salman Safdar, has submitted 15 questions to the court in his 18-page bail plea, as he aims to defend himself against the charges brought against him.

Among the number of questions he is asking the Supreme Court is whether or not it would be appropriate for the Court to consider whether or not the courts that rejected his bail plea considered the fact that the cipher case was “politically motivated”. In addition to questioning the lawfulness of the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) jurisdiction in the case, he also questioned its “malafide intentions” and the motives behind its involvement in the case.

A legal question is whether the Ministry of Interior, which excluded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which actually handles ‘Cypher Telegram,’ correctly assumed the role of the Complainant, as well as whether the Minister of Interior, which oversees the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), does not appear to be an opponent of the Petitioner in any way. There was a question from the lawyer.

In addition, it is also sought that the top court determine if the Islamabad High Court, which heard the petition, failed to fully recognize and comprehend that the petitioner had not violated his oath of office and he enjoyed immunity under Article 248 of the constitution.

As part of the “interest of justice and fairness”, the PTI chief has asked for post-arrest bail in the case from the Supreme Court in the “interest of justice and fairness”.

Imran Khan had sought bail and for the first information report (FIR) in the cipher case to be canceled. However, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected his pleas on October 27.

The Chief Justice of the IHC, Aamer Farooq, has announced the court’s order which has been reserved for a later date after both parties’ arguments have been heard on October 16.

There was a special request for bail filed by Khan against the registration of the FIR with respect to his and the party’s vice chairman, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who were accused of misusing the secret document for their political benefit in the case filed against them.

Both party leaders have been indicted under the Official Secrets Act by a special court established under that act. At the moment, they are in the custody of the Adiala jail, where they are currently being held.

Charge sheet of the FIA

In its challan, the FIA stated that the former prime minister and the former foreign minister had been found guilty in the matter and requested that their trial be opened by the court and an appropriate sentence be passed on them.

Despite the fact that Imran Khan’s former principal secretary Azam Khan was also listed as a “strong witness” in the case, the name of former PTI secretary-general Asad Umar was left off the list of accused.

According to the sources, the FIA also attached Azam’s statements, recorded under Sections 161 and 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, with the challan, indicating that the PTI chief misused the state secret by keeping the cipher for himself.

Moreover, according to the sources, Khan had a copy of the cipher with him at the time, but he failed to return it.

Furthermore, the FIA also attached a transcript of the speech Khan and Qureshi delivered on March 27. It was on that day that Khan proudly displayed a letter claiming it was a cipher sent from an outside nation that wished to remove his government from power.

In addition to submitting this challan to the court with the list of 28 witnesses, the agency also recorded the statements of these witnesses under section 161 of the Criminal Code.

Asad Majeed, Sohail Mehmood, and Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, who was then the additional secretary of foreign affairs, have also been added to the list of witnesses of the investigation.

Is there anything you should know about ciphergate?

A controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Khan, just a month before he was ousted in April 2022, waved a letter in front of the crowd while addressing a public rally. It was claimed by Khan that the letter was a cipher issued by a foreign nation that conspired with his political opponents to overthrow the PTI government.

As far as the content of the letter was concerned, he did not divulge it, nor did he mention the name of the nation from which it originated. However, only a few days later, he claimed that the United States had conspired against him and had sought his removal as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu was trying to do the same.

The cipher was referring to the meeting between Majeed and Lu, a former Pakistan ambassador to the United States.

After claiming that he was reading contents from the cipher, the former prime minister commented on the matter. He claimed that the removal of Imran Khan from power would be a time of forgiveness for Pakistan.

On March 31, the National Security Committee (NSC), which oversees a wide range of important functions in the country, took up the matter and decided that the US needed to be strongly denounced for the “blatant interference” it has made in Pakistan’s internal affairs.

Later on, after Shehbaz Sharif had been removed from office, the then-prime minister convened a meeting of the National Security Council, which came to the conclusion that the cable did not contain any evidence of a foreign conspiracy on his part.

An audio leak that caught the attention of the internet and shocked the public apparently revealed that the former prime minister, Umar, and Azam discussed how they could use the US encryption to their advantage in the two audio leaks that became viral on the internet.

A federal cabinet committee was established to investigate the contents of the audio leaks on September 30, 2022, after the federal cabinet became aware of the issue and took action.

The cabinet gave the green light for legal action to be taken against the former prime minister in October 2022, and handed the case over to the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA).

In order to do a proper investigation of the case, the FIA summoned Khan, Umar, and other party leaders, but the PTI chief challenged the summons in court and obtained a stay order from the court, which enabled the probe to continue.

The Lahore High Court (LHC), in its judgment dated July 28, this year, recalled the stay order against the FIA’s call-up notice which was issued to Khan earlier in the year.

According to the charge sheet, Qureshi was alleged to have “aided and abetted” Imran and, as such, was as much responsible for the act as Imran.

Before the special court, both the accused have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.