The special court announced on Monday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi would be indicted in the cipher case on October 17.
The decision was made after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) submitted the challan to the court and copies were provided to the counsels of the accused persons.
Both leaders were presented before special court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain at the court set up in Adiala jail, where they are currently detained.
The cipher case stems from an incident on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan, just a month before his ouster in April 2022, addressed a public rally and waved a letter, claiming it was a cipher from a foreign nation.
He alleged a conspiracy against his government, implicating political rivals and the United States in particular.
The letter’s contents were not revealed, but Khan accused Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs, Donald Lu, of seeking his removal from power.
The FIA, in its challan, stated that both Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi were found guilty in the matter. The agency attached a transcript of Khan and Qureshi’s speech on March 27 as evidence. Additionally, the FIA submitted a list of 28 witnesses, including former foreign secretaries and high-ranking officials, whose statements were recorded under Section 161.
During previous hearings, PTI lawyers had raised objections to the case being heard in Adiala jail. They implored the court to postpone the hearing until the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decided on their plea challenging the in-camera trial. However, the IHC ruled that the hearing on Khan’s bail plea would take place in an open court.
After Imran Khan’s removal from power, then-Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC), which concluded that there was no evidence of a foreign conspiracy in the cipher incident. Subsequently, the federal cabinet initiated action against Khan, leading to the case being handed over to the FIA.
Following the submission of the challan, the court has issued notices to government witnesses. The PTI chief and his deputy are scheduled to be indicted on October 17. The PTI legal team had previously challenged FIA’s summons, but the Lahore High Court recalled the stay order against the call-up notice to Khan in July this year.
