Islamabad: The High Court has summoned all the records within 2 days while stopping the Special Official Secret Act Court from the jail trial of the cipher case against Chairman PTI and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
A bench consisting of Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb and Justice Thaman Rifat Imtiaz heard the intra-court appeal of Chairman PTI.
Attorney General Mansoor Awan told the court that the federal cabinet approved the jail trial of the cipher case. The court said that we will see what is written in the notification. If there is a jail trial, it will be an extraordinary trial. The Attorney General said that this is not an extraordinary trial, it is only a prison trial.
Justice Mian Gul Hasan said that we want to know what were the unusual circumstances that this trial is being conducted in this way? In our view, the three notifications of jail trials are not in accordance with the relevant rules of the High Court. The Attorney General said that I will take the records from all relevant institutions and place them before the court.
Chairman PTI’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja said that five witnesses are still present in the jail to record their statements.
Justice Mian Gul Hasan Aurangzeb remarked that there are many questions that need to be answered. What were the reasons for the federal cabinet approving the jail trial two days ago? The most important question is what will be the status of the court proceedings before approval. According to the record, the Official Secrets Act Judge was appointed by the Executive, the opinion of the Chief Justice was sought, but the process was initiated and completed by the Executive.
A further hearing on the intra-court appeal against the jail trial will be held on November 16. The court also summoned all the records based on the reasons for the jail trial while also rejecting the request of the Attorney General not to issue an injunction.
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