ISLAMABAD: The special court Thursday adjourned the hearing of the cipher case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi till October 9 without any proceedings.
Special court Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain presided over the proceedings in Adiala jail in line with the Ministry of Law notification issued in this regard a day earlier. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team and the special prosecutor appeared before the court.
A 12-member team including Barrister Salman Safdar, Sardar Latif Khosa, Raja Yasir, Naeem Haider Panjutha, Barrister Umair Khan Niazi, Chaudhary Khalid Yusuf, Niazullah Khan Niazi, Rai Muhammad Ali and others were allowed to attend and defend the PTI stalwarts.
The PTI lawyers while raising objection to the hearing in Adiala jail pleaded the court to put off the hearing until Islamabad High Court (IHC) decides on their plea challenging the in-camera trial of their clients.
The IHC on Monday reserved verdict on the FIA plea for an in-camera hearing on the PTI chief’s bail application in the case. The FIA told the court in its plea that an open court hearing could harm Pakistan’s diplomatic ties with other states if the matter is discussed publicly.
According to the sources, the PTI legal team also didn’t receive a copy of the FIA challan (charge sheet) submitted to the court last week, in today’s hearing. Imran Khan was also produced in the courtroom. Both the PTI leaders are on judicial remand till October 10 in the cipher case.
