The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday reserved a verdict on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s petition challenging the Law Ministry’s notification to hold his trial in Attock jail in a cipher case.
The deposed prime minister — who is in judicial custody till September 13 in the cipher case — filed a plea in the IHC against the law ministry’s notification through his counsel Sher Afzal Marwat.
Khan has been imprisoned in the prison since his conviction in the Toshakhana case on August 5 for failing to properly declare gifts he received while in office.
The IHC had overturned a lower court’s decision to jail him for three years with an Rs100,000 fine — a judgment that kept him from contesting upcoming elections — he remains behind bars due to his judicial remand in the cipher case.
On August 18, Khan was booked under the Official Secrets Act 1923 in the cipher case after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) invoked Section 5 of the said law.
The counter-terrorism wing of the FIA had registered the case against the former premier after ascertaining his deliberate involvement in misusing the classified document following a probe.
Subsequently, a special court was established under the Official Secrets Act which sent Khan on judicial remand till August 30, later extending it to 14 days till September 13.
In his petition, the PTI chief requested the court to declare the notification null and void as it was “illegal” to shift the court to Attock jail.
IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq reserved the verdict on the plea challenging the ministry’s notification after hearing the arguments today. The court had sought an explanation from the respondents on the notice.
‘One-time permission’
At the outset of the hearing, Additional Attorney General Munawar Iqbal Duggal told the court that the cipher’s hearing in Attock jail was a one-time permission.
“The hearing on the case was held in [Attock] jail on August 30,” he said, adding that the ministry had also issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) regarding the holding of trial in the prison.
Justice Farooq remarked that the jail trial is not unusual and inquired about its procedure.
To which, the prosecutor said that the notification regarding moving the court to Attock jail was issued as per the law.
The court asked what would happen if the notification was issued again. “It has to be decided under what authority can the notification be issued,” the IHC judge observed.
