PTI chairman challenges special court hearing cipher case

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman has challenged in the Supreme Court a notification issued by the Ministry of Law regarding the hearing of the cipher case against him by a special court in Adiala jail.

The PTI chairman, in his plea, has contended that the notification regarding the constitution of the special court is illegal, requesting to declare it null and void.

Earlier, the Ministry of Law issued a notification to set up a special court in Attock jail for the proceedings against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman in the cipher case.

The PTI chairman, through his counsel Sher Afzal Marwat, has additionally contested the authority of the Anti-Terrorism Court judge to hear the case filed under the Official Secrets Act.

The petitioner has made the law secretary, the interior secretary, the chief commissioner, the Islamabad police chief, the FIA director general, the superintendent of Adiala jail and the superintendent of Attock jail as respondents in the petition.

The ciber case against the PTI chairman is a criminal case filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) under the Official Secrets Act, accusing him of misusing a diplomatic cypher for his political gains.

A diplomatic cipher is a code used to encrypt and decrypt confidential messages between governments or diplomatic missions. The PTI chairman, who was the former prime minister of Pakistan, allegedly used the US cypher to communicate with his party members and to avert a no-confidence motion against him in the parliament.

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The FIA registered a first information report (FIR) against the PTI chairman and his vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi on August 15 after his former principal secretary Azam Khan made startling revelations about the cypher misuse.

The FIR also mentioned the names of former planning minister Asad Umar and former foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua.

The PTI chairman was arrested from his Lahore residence on August 5 after he was disqualified for five years and sentenced to three years in prison in another case related to the illegal sale of state gifts, known as the Toshakhana case.

He was sent to Attock jail on judicial remand till August 30 where he was grilled by the FIA team for one hour in the cypher case. He was also ordered to appear before a special court established under the Official Secrets Act on August 30.

However, on August 29 the Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended his sentence in the Toshakhana case and ordered his release on bail after submitting surety bonds of Rs100,000.

The cyber case against the PTI chairman is still pending and it is not clear how it will affect his political career and his party’s prospects in the upcoming general election.