— Despite acquittal, the duo are not expected to be released from prison
— PTI welcomes court verdict, govt awaits detailed judgment
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday acquitted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan and PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the Cypher case.
The court suspended their 10-year sentence as it heard the appeal by the incarcerated ex-PM Imran and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi against their conviction in the case.
However, despite acquittal, the duo are not expected to be released from prison due to Imran’s sentence in the Iddat case while Qureshi was arrested in recent May 9 cases. The Iddat case was transferred to another judge today while Qureshi is on physical remand till June 5 (Wednesday).
On January 30, the special court established under the Official Secrets Act awarded Imran and Qureshi 10 years imprisonment in the high-profile cipher case.
On March 19, the IHC noted that the speeches delivered by Imran and Qureshi at a public rally in Islamabad on March 27, 2022, “appear to be political in nature.”
A division bench comprising the IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb hear the appeals.
The PTI’s lawyer informed the court that in the case, Imran and Qureshi were accused of illegally possessing the secret document, disclosing classified information to the public, and manipulating it for personal gain.
“However, even the special court judge [who convicted the PTI leaders] was not shown the said diplomatic cypher,” he said.
Chief Justice Farooq remarked “If the information has been twisted, then it should be known what the information was.”
Barrister Safdar stated that the PTI leaders were accused of holding and misusing classified information for their purposes. However, in this case, the prosecution failed to link the alleged crime with revealing secrets concerning the armed forces and sensitive areas to foreign powers.
Justice Aurangzeb inquired, “What was written in the cypher?”
The lawyer replied, “I haven’t seen the cipher, so I can’t tell what is written in it.” He said the cipher code or its text has not been shared anywhere.
“On one hand, it is said that the PTI founder has made everything public; on the other hand, it is said that if the cipher is shown, it will become public.”
The court asked what was communicated from Washington in the cypher. It said the person who had sent that communication must have pinpointed what might compromise our security if it fell into the hands of India. The bench noted there was nothing unusual in the information shared with the court.
The FIA prosecutor reminded the court that they were awaiting the court’s permission to present arguments against the maintainability of the appeal.
The bench noted that it would deliver a verdict on the merit of the appeals as well as their maintainability at the same time.
At the next hearing, Imran Khan’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar contended before the IHC that registering the cipher case only against his client was an ‘act of retaliation’ as others had not returned the copies of the diplomatic cable until it was filed.
Safdar maintained that the requirements of a fair trial under Article 10A had not been fulfilled. The lawyer told the court that the diplomatic cable was not shown to the investigation officer (IO) terming it ‘secret’.
The bench observed that the judge could have ordered under the Official Secrets Act that the document should be shown after removing all the people from the courtroom.
PTI welcomes court verdict
“A big day for the leader and the party. A fake, frivolous and fraudulent case is sent packing by IHC. Other cases will also meet their Waterloo soon. Khan will step out of Adiala as the undisputed leader of a resurgent nation. Congratulations everyone,” said PTI spokesperson Raoof Hasan.
Talking to the media, PTI leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said: “The nation saw today that the just verdict came and the banner of justice was held high and that baseless case was eliminated in which Imran Khan spent around 10 months in jail and for which he was kept in jail all the time. Today is a day of happiness … very soon the nation will see that Imran Khan will be outside.”
PTI Senator Barrister Ali Zafar said while talking to Geo News that the verdict was a victory for justice, even if it was delayed due to the prosecution’s tactics.
“The decision is as per justice and was expected. It was hoped that the decision would be exactly this,” he said. Zafar added that the verdict proved the PTI’s stance that the cipher case was a “false one” and said the government should seek forgiveness from Imran for imprisoning him in jail for an “illegal and wrong case”.
Imran’s counsel, Barrister Salman Safdar, said the state had “badly failed” in proving its case and even its prosecutors had abandoned the case. “Hats off to the honourable judges. It was a case of first impression. Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi did not do any anti-state activity,” he said.
He also lauded the two leaders for their patience and forbearance in the case and for not pestering the legal team about questions of release. Safdar said the cipher case was the most important and serious one yet, adding that Imran’s release was near.
“The high court declared today that there was no traitor here whose case was being heard. Whatever Imran Khan did was in the national interest.”
A statement issued by the PTI requested the judiciary that the “false cases” against all political prisoners be dealt with as soon as possible and they should be released from jail.
Speaking in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur said someone should be answerable for keeping Imran behind bars given that the cipher case was discarded.
“Who is responsible for this? Who made this case?” he asked while addressing the provincial assembly, adding that he would hold the people who filed the case accountable.
Govt awaits detailed judgment
Meanwhile, Barrister Aqeel Malik, the government’s spokesperson for legal affairs, said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad that the detailed verdict was awaited.
“It is necessary to present some facts before the nation and the reality is that the cypher is a reality and it can’t be denied that a national security document was exaggerated and used for political purposes to fool the people. This is a fact that it was waved at a political rally and you all know that the PTI founder waved and used a confidential Pakistani document for his political purposes.
“This also cannot be denied that a cipher copy is missing and that copy, former principal secretary to the prime minister Azam Khan has clearly recorded in his statement that the copy is missing and was not returned to the [foreign] ministry.”
He said national security issues were “very serious” to which many important concerns were associated.
“Let me be very clear, nothing trumps national security.”
He said the prosecution will decide whether to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court once the detailed court order is out.
Malik added: “One thing that is clear is that maybe even the respectable courts should have looked at this in this context that when a matter of national security arrives, it is a very sensitive and complicated issue.”
He further said: “The better way would have been that this should have been seen in the context of national security and the case should have been sent for a retrial.”
Malik said the verdict amounted to the opening of a “Pandora’s box” which would enable any politician to imperil sensitive documents related to national security.
The cypher
The case originated from Imran’s public display of a paper during a rally in Islamabad on March 27, 2022, claiming it as evidence of an “international conspiracy” before a vote of no-confidence led to his government’s ouster.
The FIA initiated its probe into the so-called “cypher-gate” on July 19, 2023, after the previous coalition government announced an official inquiry against Imran and his close associates for violating the OSA.
Imran was arrested on August 5, following his conviction in the Toshakhana case by a local court of Islamabad. Later, he was also arrested in the cypher case on August 29.
As per the challan papers, both Imran and Qureshi, the former foreign minister, were charged under sections 5 and 9 of the OSA. These provisions entail the possibility of the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Previously, the cypher trial had started inside the Adiala jail but an IHC division bench later annulled all those proceedings, ordering a fresh open court trial.
