The Supreme Court on Friday granted former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi post-arrest bail against surety bonds of Rs. 1,000,000 each in the cipher case.
A three-member bench, headed by interim Chief Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah, conducted the hearing. Both Khan and Qureshi were indicted in the cipher case by a special case earlier this month after an earlier indictment was declared null and void due to an erroneous government notification for a jail trial. They have both pleaded not guilty to all charges of allegedly misusing a classified diplomatic document for political purposes.
However, while it is likely that Qureshi would go free, Khan is likely to remain incarcerated as he is already under arrest in two separate NAB references.
During proceedings, the judges continuously questioned the validity of the charges against Khan and Qureshi, specifically those pertaining to the former prime minister retaining a copy of the cipher and not returning it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Justice Minallah also pointed out that as leaders of a major political party, it was not appropriate for them to remain imprisoned ahead of general elections, as this violated the principle of a “level playing field.” He remarked that this was not a matter of Khan’s rights, but rather the rights of the general public.
Justice Mansoor, meanwhile, questioned how the cipher controversy had benefited any other country.
Justice Shah also noted the Dec. 13 indictment in the cipher case was not challenged. “The FIA remained silent in the case for seven months and then arrested the PTI leader as soon as he was granted bail in the Toshakhana case,” argued Khan’s counsel, adding the FIR has four names, but the FIA is only investigating two people. “Asad Umar and Azam Khan were also to be investigated,” he said.
Addressing media after the bail ruling, PTI lawyer Salman Safdar claimed the cipher case had reached its conclusion. He claimed the federal government failed to prove the cipher case was a serious offense meriting the maximum penalty of death sentence or life imprisonment, adding it was a case of “political victimization.” He also maintained the Supreme Court’s observations would make the government’s case before the trial court “difficult” to prove.
According to the two-page charge-sheet filed against Qureshi and Khan by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Khan—as prime minister—and Qureshi—as foreign minister—breached the Official Secrets Act. It accused them of publicly flaunting a classified document during a rally on March 27, 2022; exploiting it for personal gain in a deliberate manner; and alleged their “unlawful” actions had harmed the nation’s reputation, security, and diplomatic affairs.