The special court constituted under the Official Secrets Act on October 23 indicted Khan and PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cypher Case.

The PTI chief’s petition was filed through lawyers Salman Safdar and Khalid Yusuf in which the plaintiff Yusouf Naseem Khokhar and the state have been made parties.

In his application, the former prime minister pleaded before the court to declare the proceedings null and void, saying the charge could be framed after seven days of distribution of the case’s copy.

However, the trial court did not follow the law, and the legal requirements were also not taken into consideration, the applicant added.

The PTI chief contended in the petition that the trial court rushed in framing the charge and wanted to hastily complete the trial.

Read: IHC rejects Imran Khan’s intra-court appeal against jail trial in cypher case

There were no directions from the higher courts to hear the trial on a daily basis or to complete it quickly, he said, adding that a hasty trial would affect his fundamental constitutional rights.

The PTI chief pleaded that the trial could not proceed in the absence of the central evidence i.e., cypher telegraph. He prayed before the court to set aside the special court’s October 23 order.