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Who Is Abdul Qadir Reporter ARY News?
ARY News reporter to Prime Minister of Pakistan, Abdul Qadir brings you the everyday news, mainly covering the decisions taken by Imran Khan and Federal Government. The channel is committed to serve you with insights on various issues pertaining to national interests.
ECP to announce PTI's intra-party elections verdict on Nov 23
The Election Commission of Pakistan said that the decision on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) intra-party elections will be announced tomorrow (Thursday).
The Election Commission, following a notice regarding the party's internal restructuring and intra-party elections, responded to PTI's plea for an early decision, stating that the announcement would be made on Thursday at 12 o'clock.
Cipher case: SC issues notices to federation, interior ministry on Imran Khan’s bail plea
Apex court adjourns hearing for indefinite period.
Also adjourns hearing on plea challenging indictment in cipher case.
IHC, a day earlier, had nullified notification on jail trial.
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the federation and the interior ministry on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s bail plea in the cipher case.
The petition was heard by a three-member bench comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Ayesha Malik.
At the outset, the bench asked when the issue came up and the punishment it carries if a person is found guilty.
Barrister Salman Safdar, Khan's counsel, then briefed the court on the inquiry report and accusations made against the former prime minister in the case.
He added that Khan’s then-principal secretary Azam Khan also accused the PTI chief of misusing the cipher.
Justice Masood then inquired whether the role of co-accused was determined in the case.
The lawyer stated that Asad Umar had been released while Azam Khan from being an accused was turned into a witness for the case.
On this, Justice Afridi interjected and stated that in the inquiry it was said that the co-accused’s role be determined during the interrogation and asked what was said in the final investigation report by the investigating officer.
Safdar shared that the investigation officer did not did not adopt a clear stance. He added that Azam was “kidnapped” and after the “kidnapping” his statement was recorded under Section 164.
“Look, this is how the truth comes out,” said Justice Masood.
On this, Safdar then contended that his client was being politically victimised.
During the hearing, Justice Malik asked the lawyer what was the central ground of his case.
“Our case is that this case is not maintainable,” responded Safdar. The sections included in the FIR against the PTI chief are those that are included in espionage offences.
“It was never mentioned in the investigation where the spying was done or which enemy country benefited out of it,” said Safdar.
To this, Justice Masood observed that the government was contending the accused compromised the code of the cipher.
Justice Afridi then brought up the issue of the cable's secrecy and whether the PTI chief had shown the document to anyone.
Safdar told the court that the cipher was not shown to anyone during this time.
"If the contents of a document are shared while waving it, doesn't it mean making it public?" asked Justice Masood while referring to the first time when the PTI chief revealed the alleged conspiracy in a rally.
Moving on, Justice Masood told the lawyer that the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) decision to nullify the trial would benefit the prosecution as the government would now rectify all its mistakes and go for a trial.
“We had a petition related to bail and we have issued notices on it,” said Justice Masood. He added that this is what they could only do.
The apex court then adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period.
Earlier, the same bench also heard the PTI chief‘s petition challenging his indictment in the case and that was also adjourned for an indefinite period. The adjournment was issued after Khan’s lawyer Hamid Khan asked for time to review the IHC on the jail trial.
The IHC, a day earlier, had nullified the notification for conducting Khan's jail trial on charges of leaking state secrets — issued on August 29.
