In Islamabad, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday acquitted former Prime Minister Imran Khan and PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the cipher case, according to reports from ARY News.
The verdict was announced by IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, who upheld the pleas challenging the conviction in the cipher case.
In January of this year, Imran Khan and the PTI’s vice-chairman were sentenced to 10 years each in prison in the cipher case. However, they are not expected to be released from prison due to Imran’s sentences in the Toshakhana and Iddat cases, while Qureshi has been arrested in recent May 9 cases.
The cipher case involved accusations of conspiracy to misuse the contents of the cipher for illicit purposes. The special court handling the cipher case had sentenced both former Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to 10 years in jail each, stating that the prosecution had provided sufficient evidence to prove the charges against them.
The case originated from an FIR registered on August 15 under the Official Secrets Act, following a complaint by the Home Secretary. The FIR named former Prime Minister Imran Khan, former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, former principal secretary Azam Khan, and former planning minister Asad Umar. It alleged that Khan and Qureshi distorted the facts of the diplomatic cipher, with the intention of misusing its contents for wrongful purposes, thereby endangering state interests. It was claimed that Khan had instructed Azam Khan to manipulate the contents of the cipher and deliberately retained a copy of the diplomatic cipher sent to the Prime Minister’s office.