A special court issued an order on Thursday, directing the appearance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former foreign minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, in the cipher case on November 28.
The brief hearing, presided over by Judge Abu Alhasnaat Zulqurnain, adhered to Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) instructions, conducting proceedings at the Judicial Complex in G-11 instead of Adiala jail.
Lawyers Ali Bukhari and Khalid Yousaf represented Qureshi in court. The judge requested a copy of the IHC’s divisional bench decision, which was promptly provided. The hearing concluded swiftly, and the court, in accordance with IHC orders, instructed jail authorities to present Shah Mahmood Qureshi before it on Tuesday, November 28.
On November 21, the IHC had declared the jail trial in the cipher case illegal, invalidating proceedings since August 29, including the indictment. The court ruled that the law ministry’s notification on August 29, permitting the jail trial, was “without lawful authority and no legal effect.”
The cipher case, initiated under the Official Secrets Act with an FIR filed on August 15, involved a complaint by the Home Secretary. Former prime minister Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi were named in the report, along with former principal secretary Azam Khan and former planning minister Asad Umar. The FIR alleged that Khan and Qureshi distorted diplomatic cipher facts, launching a conspiracy to misuse its contents for nefarious purposes, ultimately endangering state interests.
