The Islamabad High Court rejected Imran Khan’s bail petition in the cipher case on Friday, ruling that the Official Secrets Act can be applied to Imran Khan’s actions .
Justice Aamer Farooq issued the verdict, reserved on October 16, on Friday morning.
The judgement said that the matter of Khan’s bail and the FIR being quashed has been addressed in a single judgement due to the overlap of lengthy arguments made in the case.
The decision says that Imran Khan not only received the cipher and divulged its contents but also ‘lost’ it, which he was not authorised to do under section 5 of the Act.
It also adds that the argument that Imran Khan was discharging his responsibilities according to the oath of office by revealing the contents of the cipher does not hold weight since the revelations were made at a political rally.
The judgement also says that the ‘bare reading’ of the cipher’s contents merited a demarche and there was no conspiracy.
The IHC decision refers to both Asad Majeed Khan’s version as well as the Supreme Court ruling in the Qasim Suri case.
However, the judgement adds that its observations are ‘tentative’ and should not prejudice the trial court where the case is being heard.
On Thursday, the IHC rejected Imran Khan’s petition against the trial being held in jail. The court had ruled that Khan should be given a right to free trial.
The former prime minister has been in jail since August 5 when he was arrested minutes after an accountability court in Islamabad convicted him of corrupt practices in the Toshakhana case.
He was arrested from inside Attock prison on August 29 in the cipher case, registered under the Official Secrets Act.
Khan eventually managed to obtain bail in the Toshakhana case but could not be released due to his arrest in the cipher case.
Since going to jail in August, Khan has not been brought to a single court hearing despite continuing to face a plethora of cases from corruption to May 9 rioting. All hearings in the cipher case have so far been held inside prison, first in Attock and then in Adiala.
Meanwhile, Khan along with former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi have already been indicted in the cipher case. Khan has been charged with illegally retaining and communicating the contents of the classified cipher written by Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington. Qureshi has been accused of abetting him.
If found guilty, Khan could be sentenced to up to fourteen years in prison or even death.
Meanwhile, Khan has expressed apprehension that “they will try to make another attempt on my life while I am in jail”.
In a message posted on his X, which was said to be shared with his family on Tuesday, the ex-premier said, “Since I won’t agree to leave my country, there is of course a danger they will try to make another attempt on my life while I am in jail.
Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, told reporters outside the court that “there is no court in Pakistan that can give justice to the PTI chairman.”
She vowed to stand with her brother. “What the PTI chairman said to us in jail on October 24 is being proven correct,” Aleema said.
“He said that there was not a London plan but an agreement was made in London. Whatever is happening now is taking place under that agreement and in my opinion, our courts are supporting that agreement,” she said.
