A special court established to handle cases related to the Official Secrets Act has granted former Prime Minister Imran Khan a permission to talk with his sons over phone.
His sons Qasim and Sulaiman Khan live with his former wife Jamima Khan in London.
Khan, currently under judicial custody until September 13 in a cipher case, has been confined in Attock prisons since his arrest on August 05.
Imran Khan’s legal representatives, Umair Niazi and Shiraz Ahmed, submitted a petition before Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain, requesting that he be permitted to communicate with his sons via telephone or WhatsApp.
During the hearing, Khan expressed his desire, stating, “I want to talk to my sons Qasim and Sulaiman Khan on the telephone or WhatsApp.”
The judge approved the plea and subsequently directed officials at Attock Jail to make necessary arrangements for Imran Khan to converse with his sons over the phone.
Khan’s incarceration has stemmed from his conviction on graft charges by a trial court in the federal capital. However, the Islamabad High Court suspended his sentence in the Toshakahana case on August 29. While Khan remains in Attock jail, the special court had initially placed him on judicial remand on August 16, which was subsequently extended by another 14 days.
responses from the law ministry and other involved parties in response to the plea submitted by former Prime Minister Imran Khan. This plea challenges the recent decision to relocate the cipher case hearing from Islamabad to the Attock Jail.
Imran Khan’s petition was filed just a day after his cipher case hearing took place within the office of the deputy superintendent of the Attock district jail, where he is currently imprisoned following his conviction in the Toshakhana graft case.
The cipher case centers around a diplomatic document that allegedly disappeared from Imran’s possession. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) claims that the document contained a threat from the United States to remove Imran from power. The case also involves proceedings against Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PTI’s vice chairman and former foreign minister.
Imran Khan had also raised objections to the appointment of Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge, to preside over the special court established for cases related to the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
Following the suspension of Imran’s sentence in the Toshakhana case by the IHC on Tuesday, the special court instructed the Attock jail authorities to place him in “judicial lockup” and present him the following day in connection with the cipher case.
In response, the law ministry issued a notification stating that the interior ministry had communicated “security concerns” and that the Law and Justice Division had “no objection” to holding Imran’s trial for the cipher case in the Attock jail.
Consequently, Judge Zulqarnain conducted an in-camera hearing of the cipher case against Imran at the jail, where he extended the former premier’s judicial remand until September 13.
