PTI Chairman Imran Khan has approached the Islamabad High Court (IHC)seeking post-arrest bail in the cipher case, where he is currently detainedin Attock jail.
This move comes after the special court, established to handle cases underthe Official Secrets Act, rejected his previous plea. The cipher caseinvolves a missing diplomatic document that allegedly contained a threatfrom the United States to remove Imran from power.
Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi have attendedhearings in this case, while the involvement of PTI leader Asad Umar andformer principal secretary Azam Khan was supposed to be determined duringthe investigation.
Umar was granted pre-arrest bail, but Imran and Qureshi were deniedpost-arrest bail, with their judicial remand set to complete on September26. Today, Imran filed the petition through his lawyer Barrister SalmanSafdar, urging the IHC to grant him post-arrest bail until the cipher caseis finally resolved.
The plea states that nearly 200 criminal cases, including charges ofcorruption, murder, sedition, and more, have been filed against Imran,making it difficult to seek remedy under the Code of Criminal Procedure.The petition alleges that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) operatedunder the influence of the then interior ministry and that the case notbeing registered by the foreign ministry was overlooked. It also points outthat arrests of former prime ministers and foreign ministers under theSecrets Act are unprecedented in history.
Read Top Stories
The petition cites past verdicts condemning straightaway arrests andargues that the Secrets Act was originally intended for holding armedforces members accountable. It contends that the Secrets Act’s sections arenot applicable in the cipher case and accuses state functionaries of havingvindictive motives.
The plea highlights Imran’s willingness to provide surety and not abscond,emphasizing his integrity and contributions to Pakistan. It suggests thatImran’s growing popularity posed a threat to established political forces,leading to political victimization. The petition has been accepted and isscheduled for a hearing on Monday by IHC Chief Justice Amir Farooq.
