The Islamabad High Court (IHC) took up the petitions of PTI Chairman Imran Khan seeking suspension of the cipher case trial as well as against the decision to indict him and party Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
IHC Chief Justice Aamir Farooq heard the case, as the court merged the case with the plea seeking dismissal of the cipher case.
Imran Khan’s lawyer Latif Khosa said the case pertained to suspension of the trial of the cipher case in the trial court, as well as challenging the decision to indict the PTI chairman.
The matter is being heard in the Islamabad High Court and the decision has been reserved, Khosa told the court.
The lawyer requested the court to fix both the cases together for hearing before October 17, explaining that there will be a lot of chaos that day as the trial is under way and the indictment is also fixed for the same day.
During the hearing, Latif Khosa also said they had a lot of concerns about the Official Secrets Act, asking what security was compromised or privacy leaked.
“My client is a national hero and the world knows and believes that now he is in jail for no reason,” Khosa added.
Khan's lawyer Sher Afzal Marwat pleaded to annul the trial court order of October 9.
Marwat appeared in the court and took the stance that the trial court wrote in its order that the copy of the investigation report had been received, whereas it was not.
“We did not receive the indictment copy, but the judge wrote that it was,” he added, and asked for removing their objections.
Chief Justice Aamir Farooq remarked that he would remove the objections, but first would have to look at under which rules the objections have been made and how to remove them.
Marwat also pleaded or the annulment of the trial court order of October 9 and adopted the stance that the trial court did not wait for the high court's decision against the jail trial.
He requested that the decision of the special court of the Official Secrets Act of October 9 be annulled.
The IHC chief justice said he would issue an order after looking at the rules regarding removal of the objections raised on the application.
