Cipher case: PTI chairman files bail plea in SC

ISLAMABAD:  Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman on Friday approached the Supreme Court (SC), seeking bail in missing cipher case. The PTI chairman filed a bail plea through his counsel Salman Safdar, media reports said.

The petition maintained that the cipher case is just another example of the ‘politically motivated cases’ targeting the PTI chairman. The bail application has been filed under Article 185 of the Constitution.

In the plea, PTI chairman pleaded that the cipher case is a manifestation of the maliciousness of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). He also urged the apex court to overturn Islamabad High Court (IHC) order in cipher case and set him free.

LHC takes swift action to combat smog, pollution

IHC, last Friday, rejected the bail plea of the PTI chairman in the cipher case.

The first information report (FIR) of the case was registered on August 15 under the Official Secrets Act, on the complaint of the Home Secretary.

Along with PTI chairman, former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was also nominated in the report, while names of former principal secretary Azam Khan and former planning minister Asad Umar were also mentioned.

The FIR stated that the former prime minister and foreign minister distorted the facts of the diplomatic cipher. “A conspiracy was launched to misuse the contents of the cipher to fulfill nefarious purposes”, it added. It further stated that the former premier and top diplomat endangered the state interests. – INP