PTI demands judicial probe into cipher case

LAHORE: Rejecting a challan submitted by Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Saturday demanded the formation of a judicial commission to investigate the cipher case, ARY News reported.  

In a statement issued today, the PTI spokesperson said that the challan submitted against party chairman Imran Khan and vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi was ‘meaningless and bogus as cipher case”.

Moreover, the spokesperson maintained, the cipher was still present in its original state in the Foreign Office. “Cipher’s presence proves the allegations levelled against the former prime minister [Imran Khan] as baseless,” he added.

“The then federal cabinet declassified the cipher under its powers”, the spokesman noted, claiming that Official Secrets Act cannot be applied in this case.

The spokesperson further said that PTI chief had repeatedly demanded an independent and impartial investigation into cipher case. “He also penned down letters to chief justice and President of Pakistan, but to no avail.”

The spokesperson concluded by saying that a judicial commission should be formed to investigate the cipher to meet the demands of justice.

Earlier in the day, the FIA submitted challan of the cipher case in a special court constituted under the official secrets act. PTI chairman and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi were indicted in the challan.

The FIA pleaded to the court for trial and conviction of the Chairman PTI and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

Sources said that former minister and PTI leader Asad Umar has not been named in the list of the accused.

Former principal secretary to the PM Azam Khan has become a strong witness in the FIA’s case. His statement under 161 and 164 has also been annexed with the challan, according to sources.

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

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.