ISLAMABAD: A special court established to hear cases under the Official Secrets Act on Monday approved the physical remand of PTI Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the cypher case.
Shah Mehmood Qureshi was handed over to Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on a four-day physical remand after being presented in court amid tight security. Judge Abul Hasanat Muhammad Zulqarnain conducted the hearing in Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) complex.
PTI’s lawyer Shoaib Shaheen assured to cooperate with FIA on the cypher issue. He assured to appear when summoned by the FIA during its probe in the case.
He opposed the repeated physical remand of the politician. Qureshi’s lawyer Ali Bukhari’s also opposed the physical remand. The FIA prosecutor urged to court to grant 14-remand remand
The judge issued the verdict after hearing the arguments of the lawyers of the parties and sent the former foreign minister on remand.
A special court was established in Islamabad for the entire country to try individuals under the Official Secrets Act. Judge of Anti-Terrorism Court No. 1 appointed as Judge of the special court. ATC Judge Abul Hasanat Muhammad Zulqarnain has been appointed to hear cases under the Official Secrets Act.
The Anti-Terrorism Court confirmed that there is only one court in the whole country for cases under the law. The hold will hold in-camera proceedings of case under the Official Secrets Act.
A day earlier, a local court approved one-day physical remand of Shah Mehmood Qureshi and handed him over to police custody. The former foreign minister was produced in the court of Duty Magistrate Ehtisham Alam which heard the case as police sought his physical remand. Qureshi denied violating the Official Secret Act and said he will continue to support PTI chairman Imran Khan.
Earlier, FIA arrested Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the case after a case was registered against him in the missing cypher case. An FIR was registered against Qureshi in the case on August 15 regarding the missing classified document. The case was registered against Qureshi under Section 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act.
A case has been registered against Qureshi on the complaint of Interior Ministry Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar. The FIR registered against Qureshi and other accused was filed after approval of the relevant authorities.
The complaint was registered by the Counter-Terrorism Wing of the FIA. The complaint said that Imran Khan, foreign minister Qureshi and their associates are involved in communication of information in secret classified documents by “twisting the facts to achieve their ulterior motives and personal gains in a matter prejudicial to the interests of state security.”
The FIR said that conspiracy was hatched in a secret meeting in Banigala on March 28, 2022, to misuse the contents of the cypher and accomplish their nefarious designs at the cost of national safety. It said the copy of the cypher sent to PM’s Office was deliberately kept in the custody of the former prime minister with “malafide intention” and never returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It said the document is still in the possession of Imran Khan.
