A special court established under the official secrets act has sentenced founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi 10-year in jail.

The verdict was pronounced by Judge Abulhasnat Zulqarnain at Adyala Jail, Rawalpindi. recorded their statement under section 342 of the code of criminal procedure.

A day before, in a 13-hour long hearing, the court took testimony of 11 witnesses and concluded cross questioning with 25 witnesses.

A brief timeline of cipher

• March 27, 2022, Imran Khan claimed foreign conspiracy against his government in a rally, waves a document
• April 10, 2022, Imran Khan was ousted as prime minister of Pakistan through a no confidence moment.
• A few days after Imran’s announcement, the diplomatic cable related to his claim went missing
• To investigate the missing documents case, the Federal Investigation Agency had registered the first information report, in which it nominated Shah Mehmood Qureshi. “On March 7, 2022, a foreign secretary of Washington had sent cipher,” indicates the FIR.
• FIA’s anti-terrorism department registered another case, nominating Imran Khan, Asad Umar, and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, adds that Imran wrongly interpreted cipher
• August 10, 2023, Shah Mehmood Qureshi is arrested
• August 15, 2023, Imran Khan, already in jail in Toshakhana case, is arrested
• September 26, 2023, Imran Khan shifted from Attock Jail to Adiala on his plea
• September 30, 2023, FIA presented a challan in the case. Referring to 27 witnesses, the FIA said that Azam Khan is a main witness who had recorded his testimony against Imran Khan.
• 23 October, 2023, Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi were first charged in the case.
• October 27, official witnesses were summoned, but the hearing could not proceed due to PTI’s appeal in the Islamabad High Court.
• October, 31, 2023, the date of was fixed and 10 witnesses were produced but their statements could not be recorded.
• November 7, 2023, the court recorded the statements of 3 witnesses and examined them.
• November 14, 2023, statements of two witnesses were recorded and one was cross-examined.
• November 21, 2023 the High Court gave a brief verdict and allowed Imran Khan’s intra-court appeal and annulled the August 29 notification regarding the jail trial.
• 13 December 2023 Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood were indicted for the second time under 3 different charges.
• December 22, 2023, the Supreme Court granted bail to Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi on a surety bonds worth of Rs100,000 each. However, they were not released due to arrest in other cases
• January 26, court appoints state defence counsels
• January 30, Imran and Qureshi are sentenced to 10 years in prison each