Pakistan Supreme Court grants bail to Imran Khan, associate in Cypher case » Today Latest Stories

Islamabad:

The Pakistan Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the encryption case, Dawn reported.

The court ordered the PTI leaders to submit surety bonds worth PKR 1 million each.

The three-member bench, headed by Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justices Athar Minallah and Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, passed the order on a batch of petitions filed by PTI.

The encryption case involves a diplomatic document that the FIA ​​claims Imran never returned, with PTI confirming that the document contained a threat from the US to remove Imran from the post of Prime Minister.

The Special Court (Official Secrets Act) resumed the encryption trial at the Adiala District Jail last week after Imran and Qureshi were charged for the second time on December 13, Dawn reported.

The trial faced setbacks when the Islamabad High Court annulled the proceedings due to an “erroneous” government notification of the prison trial. The Supreme Court upheld the indictment against Imran, threw out his confession, but instructed the special court judge to ensure a “fair trial.”

However, Imran Khan will not be released from prison as several arrest warrants have been issued against him in several other cases.

Earlier in August, former Prime Minister Imran Khan was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100,000 by Additional District and Sessions Judge Humayun Dilawar, after the judge found him guilty of graft in the Toshakhana case.

Khan was found guilty of abusing his position as prime minister to sell government gifts worth more than 140 million rupees (US$490,000) that he received from foreign dignitaries during his visits abroad, Geo News reported.

Last month, PTI asked the Supreme Court to release Imran on bail after his arrest, arguing that bail should not be used as a form of punishment. Dawn reported that the SC had previously issued notices to the FIA ​​and the FIA, directing them to submit responses to the petition.

The encryption case, which was initiated by the filing of a First Information Report (FIR) on August 15 under the Official Secrets Act, involves serious allegations against former Prime Minister Imran Khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

The FIR, lodged on the Home Minister’s complaint, implicates former Chief Secretary Azam Khan and former Planning Minister Asad Umar. According to the FIR, action is expected to be taken against Azam Khan and Asad Umar, as authorities have concluded that they were involved in misuse of confidential documents. The report alleges that Khan and Qureshi hatched a conspiracy to exploit the contents of diplomatic encryption for malicious purposes, thereby endangering the interests of the state.

The report claimed that the former prime minister asked Azam Khan – the then chief secretary – to “manipulate the contents of the encryption”. “The former prime minister deliberately kept a copy of the diplomatic encryption, which was sent to the Prime Minister’s Office,” she added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)