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ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday approved former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s post-arrest bail applications in the cipher case.
A three-member bench, headed by interim Chief Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah, conducted the hearing.
On December 13, the PTI founder and vice-chairman were indicted in the cipher case again by the special court established under the Official Secrets Act 2023 after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared their jail trial null and void.
Both politicians have pleaded not guilty to their involvement in the offence related to the alleged misuse of diplomatic cable for political purposes.
During the court proceedings today, the top court also heard the petition against Khan and Qureshi’s October 23 indictment.
At the outset of the hearing, Justice Masood remarked that the indictment that was challenged was already nullified by the IHC on November 21.
As a result, Imran and Qureshi’s Oct 23 indictments in the case also stood null and void, and the trial was conducted again.
Justice Masood said that the fresh indictment will not be affected by the previous proceedings that were declared invalid by the IHC.
At this, Khan’s counsel Hamid Khan argued that the trial was taking place on the previous charge sheet.
Justice Masood said that the petition against the old charge sheet has become infructuous. “If you have an objection to the fresh indictment then challenge it in the high court,” the judge told the lawyer.
To this, Hamid requested the court to wait for the IHC’s decision today against the in-camera trial in the cipher case.
Khan’s another counsel Barrister Salman Safdar said that Hamid had made amendments to his petitions, requesting the court to take it as a fresh one.
The court then adjourned the hearing on the plea against indictment while the hearing on bail pleas gets underway.
