On Monday, a special court indicted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PT) Chairman Imran Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a cipher case registered under the Official Secrets Act,
Special court judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain heard the case at the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.
Both the PTI leaders were indicted after they had moved a petition under CrPC 265-D to stop the indictment. The judge while rejecting the petitions stated that the hearing was fixed for indictment and went ahead with it.
Once the charges are framed, the evidence of the prosecution is recorded and the case trial begins. Subsequently, the testimonies and statements of the accused are recorded by the court.
Following the procedure, the court issued notices to the witnesses to appear on October 27 and adjourned the hearing till then.
According to sources, Qureshi and Khan have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The indictment of the two PTI leaders was postponed until today during the most recent hearing on October 17 because the accused received copies of the challans that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had filed against them.
Judge Zulqarnain had slated the indictment for the following week since the attorneys for the accused had objected to being given copies of the complaint during the October 17 hearing.
It is pertinent to mention here that the IHC on August 29 had suspended the sentence handed down to the PTI chairman in the Toshakhana case.
