Cipher case: SC approves post-arrest bails of Imran, Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Friday approved the post-arrest bails of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the cipher case.

The court asked the two accused to submit surety bonds worth Rs1 million each.

A three-member bench of the top court, headed by Acting Chief Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah, announced the verdict after hearing the arguments from both sides.

The former PTI chairman’s lawyer Salman Safdar, Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s counsel Ali Bokhari Advocate, special prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi Advocate and Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) prosecutor Shah Khawar Advocate presented their arguments during the hearing.

Imran Khan and Qureshi had approached the Supreme Court after the Islamabad High Court had rejected their post-arrest bails in the cipher case.

It may be mentioned that the two accused are currently in Adiala jail. The special court initiated in-camera trial last week against the former prime minister and foreign minister in jail.

The controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan while addressing a public rally waved a letter before the crowd, claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation that had conspired with his political rivals to have the PTI government overthrown.

He did not reveal the contents of the letter nor did he mention the name of the nation it came from. But a few days later, he accused the United States of conspiring against him and alleged that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal.

The cipher was about former Pakistan ambassador to the US Asad Majeed Khan’s meeting with Lu.

The former prime minister, claiming that he was reading contents from the cipher, said that “all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power”.

Then on March 31, the National Security Committee (NSC) took up the matter and decided to issue a “strong demarche” to the US for its “blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan”.

Later, after his removal, then-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the NSC, which came to the conclusion that it had found no evidence of a foreign conspiracy in the cable.

In the two audio leaks that took the internet by storm and shocked the public after these events, the former prime minister, then-federal minister Asad Umar, and then-principle secretary Azam could allegedly be heard discussing the US cipher and how to use it to their advantage.

On September 30, the federal cabinet took notice of the matter and constituted a committee to probe the contents of the audio leaks.

In October, the cabinet gave the green signal to initiate action against the former prime minister and handed over the case to the FIA.

Once FIA was given the task to probe the matter, it summoned Imran Khan, Asad Umar, and other leaders of the party, but the PTI chief challenged the summons and secured a stay order from the court.

The Lahore High Court (LHC), in July this year, recalled the stay order against the call-up notice to Imran Khan by the FIA.