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Monday, October 07, 2024  
03 Rabi Al-Akhar 1446  

Judge rules Imran Khan to remain in jail for another two weeks

Special Court Judge Zulqarnain hears the cypher case in Attock prison
Policemen stand guard at the Attock prison post on August 6, 2023 - AFP
Policemen stand guard at the Attock prison post on August 6, 2023 - AFP

The PTI Chairman Imran Khan will remain in Attock prison for another two weeks after Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain approved his two-week judicial remand in the cypher case.

Judge Zulqarnain travelled from Islamabad to the Attock jail on Wednesday morning to conduct a hearing on the cypher case against the PTI chairman in the prison facility as security was on high alert.

Khan has been held in Attock jail since August 5 when an additional district judge sentenced him to three years in prison after finding him of corrupt practices. The sentence was suspended on Tuesday by a two-member Islamabad High Court bench.

However, Imran Khan could not be released because he was also arrested in the cypher case registered against him under the Official Secrets Act. His judicial remand in the cypher case was to end on August 30 (today. So, a court hearing was required under the law.

Sources said that the PTI chief was produced before the special court judge while the legal team of Khan was allowed to enter the jail premises to plead before the judge.

The PTI team has applied for the former prime minister’s post-arrest bail, they added.

Khan’s legal aid Naeem Haider Panjutha said that the legal team arrived at the Attock jail.

“We have been in constant contact with the jail authorities since last night. We have given the names of Imran Khan’s legal team, but only one lawyer is being allowed to go,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

In a brief hearing, the judge extended Imran Khan’s judicial remand until September 13. He then left for Islamabad.

Khan’s lawyers spoke to reporters gathered outside Attock jail. They said the former prime minister did not know before Tuesday that he had been arrested and remanded into judicial custody in the cypher case.

Soon after the suspension of Khan’s sentence in the Toshakhana criminal case on August 29, an order issued by the special court surfaced in the media. The order told the jail authorities to keep Khan in judicial lockup and produce him before it on August 30.

“That accused Imran Khan is hereby ordered for judicial remand,” said the order from the special court.

The cypher case against Khan was registered on August 15 under sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

The PTI chief’s sentence was suspended by a two-member bench of the Islamabad High Court. The court announced its reserved verdict on the petition on Tuesday, seeking the suspension of sentence in the Toshakhana case.

The written order, released towards the evening, said that a ‘deeper appreciation’ of the case is not warranted when the appellant has only asked for a suspension of the sentence.

The order also added that ‘lengthy arguments’ about the merit of the case that were made by both parties will be left for the time when the case is taken for adjudication.

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