PTI chief seeks permission for weekly contacts with sons

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan has moved the special court hearing the cipher case, seeking permission to have telephonic conversations weekly with his sons from Adiala Jail, ARY News reported on Saturday.

According to details, the PTI chief through advocate Shiraz Ahmed Ranjha filed an application in the special court, seeking permission to engage in weekly conversations with his sons – Sulaiman Isa Khan and Qasim Khan.

In the petition, Imran Khan mentioned his WhatsApp conversation with his sons on October 21, arranged by a jail superintendent complying with the court’s initial order.

However, owing to Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain’s unavailability, no action has yet been taken on Imran’s plea.

The conversation, held via WhatsApp, lasted for 30 minutes and was arranged by the jail superintendent.

Khan’s lawyer noted that while Imran’s sons, residing in the United Kingdom (UK), became emotional during the interaction, their father remained composed and reassuring.

The trial against Imran under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, involves allegations of misusing a diplomatic cypher. He is currently detained in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, having previously been in Attock Jail after a conviction in the Toshakhana (gifts repository) case on August 5.

Imran Khan was arrested on May 9 by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on charges of corruption related to the Al-Qadir Trust.

Cipher case

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

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

Read more: Official Secrets Act: Special court constituted for hearings

According to the report, action also will be taken against Azam Khan and Asad Umar after the authorities concluded that they were also involved in misusing the classified documents.

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 former premier and top diplomat endangered the state interests.

The report claimed that former prime minister asked Azam Khan – the then principal secretary – to “manipulate the contents of cipher”. “The former premier deliberately kept the copy of diplomatic cipher, which was sent to the PM office”, it added.