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Published 25 Aug, 2023 11:18am

FIA granted three-day physical remand of PTI’s Qureshi in cipher case

A special court in Islamabad granted the Federal Investigation Agency a physical remand of PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a case pertaining to the cipher that reportedly went missing from ex-prime minister Imran Khan’s custody.

A team of the FIA brought the former foreign minister to the court after completion of a four-day physical remand which the court granted on August 21.

The federal government has set up a special court in Islamabad to hear cases registered across the country under the Official Secrets Act.

The former ruling party posted a video of Qureshi’s arrival at the court on X.

On Friday, the court reserved its judgment after hearing arguments from both sides. Later, the court granted the FIA a three-day physical remand of Qureshi.

Qureshi has been booked in the case along with PTI chief Imran Khan under the Official Secrets Act. Both of them have been accused of sharing the contents of the cipher – a document which they presented as proof of “regime change” in Pakistan – with unauthorised persons to achieve “ulterior motives”. He was arrested on August 19.

The first information report was registered against Qureshi and Khan after an American news outlet, The Intercept, published a story claiming to have the cipher.

The FIR was registered under sections 5 (wrongful communication of information) and 9 (attempt to commit or abet the commission of an offence under this Secrets Act) of the Official Secrets Act read with Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

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