ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government has challenged the Islamabad High Court’s decision to suspend former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sentence in the Cipher Case, in the Supreme Court.
Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) filed a petition against the IHC’s verdict in the country’s top court on Thursday.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) had acquitted Imran Khan, the founder chairman of the main opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and the foreign minister in his cabinet Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the cipher case.
The court also ruled their release if they were not incarcerated in any other cases. The division bench, presided over by Chief Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb, had announced the reserved verdict after accepting the jail Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi appeals against their convictions in cipher case.
The court had cleared them of all charges in the cipher case, and their sentences were declared null and void.
The cipher case, which involves allegations of misuse of classified information, has been a significant legal battle for the PTI leadership. Both Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi were initially convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison each by a special court established under the Official Secrets Act in January.
The sentences were handed down by the special court after Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain appointed a state counsel for them.
This was Imran Khan’s second conviction; he was also convicted in the Toshakhana case on August 5, receiving a three-year prison sentence.
Although the IHC had suspended his sentence, a division bench later rejected his petition seeking the suspension of the conviction.
Imran Khan was later convicted in a separate Toshakhana case in January, but the 14-year sentence was suspended by the IHC in April.
He was also convicted in the Iddat case and sentenced to seven years in prison in February.
The former prime minister challenged the conviction in Islamabad’s court.
Session Judge Shahrukh Arjumand had reversed the decision on Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s appeals and was scheduled to announce the verdict on May 23. However, considering the no-confidence of Khawar Manika, ex-husband of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, the judge transferred the case to the court of Additional District and Session Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka.
Today, the Islamabad High Court directed the Additional District and Session Judge to decide on the petitions of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi seeking suspension of sentience in the Iddat case within 10 days and on pleas against their convictions within one month.
