ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court (SC) granted bail to former prime minister Imran Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday in the cypher case.
The bails have been granted against a surety bond of Rs100,000.
A three-member bench of the SC comprising acting Chief Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mansoor Ali Shah.
Imran Khan, the PTI’s founder, had approached the apex court for a bail relief in the case after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) rejected his post arrest bail application on October 27.
Last week, on December 13, a special court established under the Official Secrets Act once again indicted former premier Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the cypher case – dealing a fresh blow to ex-PTI chairman’s chances of contesting Pakistan’s general election in February.
The charges were read aloud in the courtroom, situated at Adiala Jail, where both Imran and his co-accused, the former foreign minister, denied the charges.
Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain read out the two-page charge-sheet under the Official Secrets Act, outlining three distinct charges against the defendants.
The court ruled that both Imran, in his capacity as prime minister, and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, as foreign minister, breached the Official Secrets Act.
The charge-sheet stated that both accused publicly flaunted a classified document during a rally on March 27, 2022, exploiting it for personal gain in a deliberate manner, highlighting that the unlawful actions harmed the nation’s reputation, security, and diplomatic affairs.
