Another political turmoil is likely in Pakistan as ex-premier Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were handed 10 years in jail in the cipher case by a special court established under the Official Secrets Act.
The case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.
The cipehr case saw a lot of turns and twists from jail trial to challenge in Islamabad High Court and Supreme Court, but finally both the PTI leaders were handed over 10 years each imprisonment.
The timing of the verdict is crucial, the rumours were on that Nawaz Sharif wanted punishment for Imran Khan before the general elections and that happened. PTI lawyers complained of not getting the right to defense and the case proceeded with the state counsels.
The other point is that PTI could have submitted plea in the IHC to challenge the jail trial in cipher in the morning to halt the special court from pronouncing its verdict, but that did not happen. There are two theories in PTI, one is interested to gaining a sympathy vote by ensuring punishment to Imran Khan and other wants to take over the party.
Now PTI has announced to challenge the verdict but the question arises that when the elections are on its head, how will Imran Khan’s party react to the situation? The verdict is being widely criticised by lawmakers and journalists in Pakistan, The cipher case verdict has proved again that we are still living in controlled democracy.
