IHC extends stay against trial of PTI chief in cipher case

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Thursday extended until November 20 the stay against the jail trial of the former prime minister in the cipher case, ARY News reported.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman is currently detained in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi on judicial remand.

During today’s hearing, the court approved an extension in the stay order on the request of Imran Khan’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja until Monday, November 20.

In another development today, the former prime minister approached the Supreme Court (SC), seeking post-arrest bail in missing cipher case.

In his plea, the PTI chairman urged the apex court to overturn IHC order in cipher case and set him free.

Cipher case

The first information report (FIR) was registered on August 15 under the Official Secrets Act. It was registered on the complaint of the Home Secretary.

Former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi were nominated in the report, while names of former principal secretary Azam Khan and former planning minister Asad Umar were also mentioned.

The FIR stated that the former prime minister and foreign minister distorted the facts of the diplomatic cipher. “A conspiracy was launched to misuse the contents of the cipher to fulfill nefarious purposes”, it added. It further stated that the former premier and top diplomat endangered the state interests.