ISLAMABAD, Sep 12 (NNI): The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday reserved its verdict on the petition filed by former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan against the hearing of US cipher case against him at District Jail Attock.
IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Aamer Farooq heard the case.
During the hearing, assistant to Imran’s lawyer Sher Afzal Khan Marwat told the CJ that the latter was busy in another court, and he would be here shortly. “I request the prosecution to go ahead with its arguments in the case since I am here on his behalf,” he said.
CJ Farooq asked the assistant to call Marwat.
Soon, counsel for the PTI chairman turned up in the court and read out the notification issued by the Ministry of Law.
He asked as to under which law the ministry shifted the court to Attock Jail. “How can the ministry shift the court from Islamabad to Punjab?” he asked, adding, “As per law, it is the Supreme Court (SC) which has the power to order shifting of the court.”
He argued that the PTI chairman could not be kept in the Attock Jail after the suspension of his sentence in the Toshakhana reference.
He was the view that the court was shifted with a bad intent. “The purpose of issuing a notification in this regard was to ensure that Imran could be kept in jail as long as possible,” Marwat said, and added, “The trial of civilians under the Official Secrets Act is held in special courts.”
PTI chairman’s lawyer went on to say that Islamabad was not part of any province; in fact it was a separate territory.
He further said that there was a law that dealt with shifting of the court. “If venue of the hearing had to be changed, the trial judge ought to have been taken into confidence prior to that,” Marwat argued.
Speaking on the occasion, Additional Attorney General (AAG) Munawar Iqbal Duggal said that the trial’s venue had been changed only once, and it was on August 30, 2023.
He said that the court had sought an explanation of Ministry of Law’s notification.
The AAG insisted that it was the ministry alone which had the power to notify change in trial’s venue.
He was of the view that when the court had been shifted only once, former prime minister’s petition had ceased to be effective.
IHC CJ, on the occasion, said that holding trial in a jail was not something that had no precedence in history. “All I want to know is the procedure for holding trial in the jail?” he questioned.
Prosecutor Zulfiqar Abbas Naqvi told the court that there was a break in the hearing of the cipher case.
He said that the ministry had issued the notification as per law.
CJ Farooq asked as to what was the procedure if the court had again to be shifted to the Attock jail. NNI
