Shah Mahmood Qureshi moves SC against bail suspension in cipher case

ISLAMABAD: Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the vice-chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Monday filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the apex court’s bail rejection decision in the cipher case, ARY News reported.

The PTI leader filed bail plea through his lawyer Barrister Ali Bukhari.

He argued that proceedings against Mr Qureshi were unlawful, as no order was made or notification issued with respect to his jail trial.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) extended for a day (November 21) the stay against the jail trial of the former prime minister in the cipher case.

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

A two-member Justice Gul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat bench heard arguments. 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 Tuesday, November 21.

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.