A stay order is issued by the Pakistan High Court against Imran Khan's prison trial in the cipher case

A stay order is issued by the Pakistan High Court against Imran Khan's prison trial in the cipher case

Khan was Pakistan's prime minister during August 2018 to April 2022. Washington has refuted the accusation that Khan misused the cipher's contents to create the impression that the US was behind a plot to overthrow his administration.

A high-security Rawalpindi prison was the site of a special court hearing the circumstance on Tuesday, and the court in Pakistan issued an order staying the prosecution of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The 71-year-old leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is now being held on judicial remand in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail. The same jail houses Shah Mahmood Qureshi, 67, Khan's personal adviser and former foreign minister who was also detained in the cipher case. To the accusations, Khan and Qureshi have entered not guilty pleas. At Khan's intra-court appeal hearing about his trial in Adiala jail, a two-judge panel of the Islamabad High Court (IHC)—Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb as well as Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz—pronounced the decision.

The same court's one-member bench, which had upheld Khan's trial at Adiala Jail last month, was the target of the appeal. Attorney General Mansoor Awan entered a plea, but the IHC rejected it, saying that the court should postpone the trial until tomorrow and allow him to deliver the whole case file. The court denied the motion, set Thursday as the next hearing date, and gave the order to end the case. The event happened one day after the caretaker government authorized Khan and Qureshi's prison trial on Monday. The issue involves a purported breach of the Official Secrets Act during the handling of a classified diplomatic cable by the Pakistani embassy in Washington in March 2022.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) filed charges against the pair in August. Due to security concerns, the Cabinet approved the summary that the Law Ministry had submitted for Khan and Qureshi's detention trial at Adiala jail. On October 16, the one-judge panel, presided over by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, noted that Khan's prison trial in the cipher matter had been conducted without evident malice. If Khan still had doubts, they were instructed to contact the trial court. Khan then appealed the ruling of the single bench inside the court. Special Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain presided over Khan as well as Qureshi's trial in the prison, where witnesses were called to record their testimonies, while the IHC granted orders to postpone the hearing.

Only a small number of the accused's relatives were allowed to attend the hearing today, just as they were at the last one. Qureshi and Khan were both present for the trial. In a different case, an accountability court located in Islamabad requested information from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on whether or not Khan had received a notice for a jail hearing in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Following the same court's acceptance of the NAB's request to have Khan detained so that he may be investigated in the Al-Qadir Trust and Toshakhana cases, Khan was officially arrested on Monday. On May 9, the former prime minister was originally detained in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust issue, sparking nationwide demonstrations. Later, the Supreme Court ordered the former premier's release.

During the Al-Qadir hearing, Judge Mohammad Bashir questioned the NAB prosecutor about when he intended to bring the PTI head before the court and if the government had sent out any notifications about the former prime minister's prison trial. In response, the NAB representative said he would check on the notification's progress and let the court know. An account of a meeting between Pakistani ambassador Asad Majeed Khan and US State Department officials, including the Deputy Secretary of State for the Bureau of South as well as Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, was included in the alleged cipher, or secret diplomatic cable.

Khan was Pakistan's prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022. Washington has refuted the accusation that Khan misused the cipher's contents to create the impression that the US was behind a plot to overthrow his administration. In April 2022, Khan was removed from office by a vote of no confidence. Since Khan's overthrow, more than 150 lawsuits have been filed against him.