ISLAMABAD, Aug 21 (NNI): Established on Monday, a dedicated court in Islamabad responsible for adjudicating cases related to the Official Secrets Act, has approved a four-day physical remand of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Vice Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in connection with a cipher case.
Qureshi, who was arrested on Saturday by the FIA, was presented before the special court today for the hearing of a cipher case registered under the same act.
Judge Abual Hasnat, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge, conducted the hearing on the case registered against Qureshi under the Official Secrets Act.
At the outset of the hearing, the FIA prosecutor sought Qureshi’s 13-day physical remand for the recovery of the alleged missing cipher while his counsel Shoaib Shaheen opposed the FIA’s plea.
The FIA prosecutor informed the court that incarcerated PTI chief Imran Khan was also interrogated in connection with the investigation into the case at Attock jail, the sources said.
After hearing the arguments, the court reserved the verdict on the FIA’s plea.
After a while, the judge announced the reserved verdict and ordered the FIA officials to present Qureshi before the court on August 25 (Friday).
Earlier, Judge Hasnat ordered expelling unauthorised people from the courtroom, prior to the start of the in-camera hearing.
“It is a matter of the Official Secrets Act, irrelevant people should leave,” the judge said.
A heavy contingent of Islamabad police was deployed outside the courtroom.
PTI lawyers Shoaib Shaheen, Intizar Panjotha, Gohar Ali and Ali Bukhari are present inside the courtroom, while the party’s junior lawyers were ordered to leave.
Proceedings of the court will remain in camera in line with the law.
The establishment of the court comes amid controversy over the approval of the Official Secrets Act by President Arif Alvi. The law was greenlit a couple of days before the dissolution of the National Assembly on August 7.
Both Qureshi and PTI Chairman Imran Khan have been charged under the act for using the diplomatic cipher for political gains.
The FIR stated that both the PTI chairman and the former foreign minister revealed the contents of the classified document to unauthorised persons and twisted facts “for ulterior motives and personal gains in a manner prejudicial to the interests of state security”.
The PTI politician was arrested in the case on Saturday (August 19), while a case against Khan was registered by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on August 15, invoking Section 5 of the Official Secrets Act 1923. NNI
