ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan’s jail trial in a cipher case has been declared null and void by the Islamabad High Court (IHC), a judgment that has been appealed by the federal government.
The notice to hold Imran Khan’s jail trial in the cipher case, which was filed on grounds of disclosing state secrets, was revoked by the IHC in November of last year.
On November 21, 2023, an IHC division bench made up of Justices Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Saman Rafat Imtiaz rendered a decision about Imran’s intra-court appeal against the decision of a single-member bench to allow his jail trial in the cipher case under the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
The federal government begged the Supreme Court to reverse the IHC ruling in a petition it filed with the highest court today, claiming that the high court misapplied its analysis of the case’s circumstances.
It argued that the IHC lacked the jurisdiction to deem void the proceedings of a special court established to hold the former premier’s cipher trial.
The division bench ruled that the announcement from the law ministry was “without lawful authority and no legal effect,” granting Khan’s intra-court appeal.
The IHC stated in the succinct three-page ruling that the jail trial may go forward in “exceptional circumstances.”
“In exceptional circumstances and where it is conducive to justice, a trial can be conducted in jail in a manner that fulfills the requirements of an open trial or a trial in camera provided it is in accordance with the procedure provided by law.”
In addition, the court ruled that the notice sent by the Ministry of Law and Justice on November 15, following the acceptance of the jail trial by the caretaker cabinet, “cannot be given retrospective effect”.
Imran’s cipher trial was then restarted, but all of the procedures in the cipher case that were carried out by a special court after December 14, 2023, were deemed invalid by the IHC.
