ISLAMABAD  -  Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and For­mer Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi were indicted yester­day in the cipher case at the Adyala Jail by the Special Court (Official Secret Act) Judge Abual Hasnaat Zulqarnain. 

The cipher case was initiated by Federal In­vestigation Agency (FIA) in August 2023 after Imran Khan violated the sanctity of the cipher tele­gram (official secret docu­ment) at a public rally one month before his ouster from PM office in March, 2022. Both the leaders were initially indicted in October 2023 this year under the Official Secret Act 1923 section 5 and 9 read with section 34 of PPC. During the trial of the case at the jail, Judge Abual Hasnaat Zulqarnain read the charge sheet prepared by FIA in the courtroom which said, the cipher was a secret cable, it was waved in a pub­lic rally which is prohibited according to the Official Se­cret Act 1923. Imran Khan as a prime minister had no right to keep possession of the cipher. This document was used for self-interest. Possession of diplomatic cable is against national se­curity and it harmed coun­try’s identity. Both the lead­ers denied the charges and refused to sign the charge sheet given to them. Judge Abual Hasnaat Zulqarnain said the court will write this in order that the ac­cused didn’t sign the charge sheet. After the judge read the judgement Imran Khan told the judge, “you should add more charge against me that I did a great injus­tice by exposing Gen Bajwa and Donald Lu. This trial has been done to save these two men.” Imran Khan further added that he is not scared of death penalty. The cipher was written to topple his government and they suc­ceeded. There is a conspir­acy within the cipher which is being hidden. If the media is not allowed to speak, how can this be a fair trial and if there is no fair trial, the re­sponsibility will remain on the judge for the rest of his life. Shah Mehmood Qureshi also argued before the court, “I was a chief diplomat of the country as foreign minister. There must be a reason that why this cipher was kept away from me. If this court doesn’t want to see every­thing then bring the written verdict against us.”