ISLAMABAD - The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday rejected the plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) Chairman to stop his jail trial in the cipher case.
The IHC bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Raffat Imtiaz, which heard the intra-court appeal along with the objections of Registrar Office, observed that it could not grant interim relief to the petitioner as the admissibility of the appeal was yet to be decided. Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb remarked that they could give interim relief as after the removal of objections a new bench might be formed for further proceedings. He said they were removing the objections on the petition. The PTI chairman’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja said that his client had challenged the notification of September 29 for his jail trial. It was issued by the federal government instead of the commissioner’s office, he added. The lawyer said that the single bench had declared that the federal government had the authority to appoint judges of its own choice. Salman Akram Raja said it was stated that his client’s jail trial was being conducted for his security. His client had not requested for his jail trial because of security concerns, he added.