Cypher probe: SC cannot intervene in executive powers

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday released a written verdict on the appeals, seeking an investigation into alleged US cypher, ARY News reported.

Advocate Zulfiqar Bhutta, Naeemul Hassan and Tariq Badar filed chamber pleas.

The petitioners had prayed that a high-powered commission of inquiry should be constituted to hold inquisitorial proceedings with regard to the anti-state activities conducted by the respondent political parties through mala fide and abuse of power under the provisions of the Constitution and for committing sedition and treason against the democratically and legally elected government.

On Wednesday, Justice Qazi Faez Isa heard three in-chamber appeals against the registrar’s objections to the petitions seeking an investigation into the cypher — the cable allegedly threatening the ouster of Imran Khan’s government.

Read more: Imran Khan says reality of ‘threatening cipher’ cannot be denied

The written verdict stated that the SC cannot intervene in the power of the executive as article 175/3 of the Consitution of Pakistan separate the judiciary from the executive.

The then-prime minister Imran Khan had the authority to announce a probe into the alleged cypher, the verdict said. The SC said the applicants failed to prove a violation of fundamental rights in the case, therefore the appeals stand dismissed.