Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, who is hearing the cipher case against PTI Chairman Imran Khan, ruled on Tuesday that the trial proceedings would continue at the Adiala jail but in an open court.
Citing “serious security risks”, Adiala jail authorities failed to present the former premier on Tuesday, before the special court at Islamabad’s Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) as per the orders of the same court’s judge.
Last week, Judge Zulqarnain had issued directives that the PTI chief and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi be presented at the FJC.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.
The former premier and his aide Qureshi, who is also behind bars, were indicted in the case on Oct 23. Both have pleaded not guilty.
The trial was being held at Adiala Jail and four witnesses had already recorded their statements, with the fifth being cross-examined when an Islamabad High Court division bench had termed the government’s notification for jail trial “erroneous” and scrapped the entire proceedings. As a result of the judgement, the special court would now start a fresh trial while the prosecution would have to file a fresh application to conduct the trial in jail.
