PTI chief to stay in jail as court extends judicial remand in cipher case

ATTOCK: A special court on Wednesday extended the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman’s judicial remand till September 13 in the cipher case, ARY News reported.

Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, who heard the case at the Attock District Jail under Official Secrets Act 2023, issued the decision in the case of the missing cipher, a classified state document.

Hearing of the case took place at the Attock Jail following approval by the Law Ministry amid security concerns expressed by the Interior Ministry.

Former premier Imran Khan has been imprisoned in Attock jail since his conviction in the Toshakhana case on August 5.

Read more: Cypher case against PTI chief to be heard in Attock jail

The special court in Islamabad ordered Attock Jail authorities to keep the PTI chief in judicial lockup in cypher case.

The order comes hours after IHC suspended PTI chief Imran Khan’s three-year sentence in the Toshakhana case.

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 reached the conclusion 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.