ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court will hear the appeals against the Cipher case and the conviction of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi today.
A 2-member bench comprising of Chief Justice Islamabad High Court Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Gul Hasan Aurangzeb will hear the case from Cipher.
It should be noted that the cipher case is a unique case of its kind established against any prime minister of the country in which the former prime minister of the state and the country, who was also the head of a political party, is seen standing against each other.
In January, a special court set up under the Official Secrets Act sentenced Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi to 10 years in jail in the cipher case. During the in-camera hearing in Adiala Jail, Judge Abul Hasnat gave a brief verdict.
During the hearing, Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi were present in the courtroom and also obtained copies of the statements. Shah Mehmood Qureshi wrote the answers to the statements and Imran Khan’s statement of 342 was recorded in the courtroom, meanwhile, the sentence was pronounced.
Reasons for waving paper in a meeting
In April 2022, Imran Khan’s government was terminated by bringing a no-confidence motion, before the former prime minister came to know about it at the end of March on March 27, 2022, Imran Khan waved a paper during a public meeting in Islamabad.
The basis of the cipher case was that Imran Khan disclosed to the public the content of the diplomatic message sent by Asad Majeed, Pakistan’s diplomat posted in the United States in 2022. Imran Khan waved the letter and claimed that a foreign government had planned to end my government.
If seen from Imran Khan’s point of view, the Prime Minister of the time was expelled from the government by the United States, on his letter had to be waved and told to the people, however, the status of the cipher is like a national secret, due to which January 2024 Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi were sentenced.
