ISLAMABAD: The bail petitions filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan in the cypher case has been delayed after the duty judge went on leave.
The lawyers for the PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived in the special court on Monday for the bail hearing.
The legal team was told by court staff that Judge Abul Hasnaat Zulqurnain had gone on leave till September 8 on account of his wife’s illness. The judge will return to duty on September 9.
The lawyers made their way to Duty Judge Raja Jawad Abbas’ court and requested him to hear the case. The judge told them that despite being in charge of 24 courts, he did not have the authority to hear a case under trial in a special court.
When the PTI lawyers pressed him to suggest a solution, the judge replied that they should either get the case marked to him through the Islamabad High Court, or wait till September 9, when Judge Zulqurnain returns.
The PTI lawyer told Judge Abbas that as duty judge he could hear bail petitiona. However, the lawyer said that if the judge was ‘helpless’, they could approach the high court.
The judge showed his disapproval and told the PTI lawyer that he would not have used the word before a judge. The court asked both parties to present arguments over whether a duty judge can hear a bail petition.
It must be mentioned that Imran Khan is currently in Attock Jail while Shah Mahmood Qureshi is being held in Adiala Jail in the cipher case.
A case was filed under the Official Secrets Act accusing them of revealing the contents of a diplomatic cypher that the PTI chief alleged was a conspiracy to topple him.
