Imran Khan and Qureshi’s post-arrest bail hearing is postponed by Pakistan’s special court

In a case involving the alleged disclosure of state secrets, a special Pakistani court has postponed hearing the post-arrest bail applications of former prime minister Imran Khan and his close aide Shah Mahmood Qureshi until the Islamabad High Court rules on a plea challenging the court’s jurisdiction.

An account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani ambassador Asad Majeed Khan from last year was included in the supposed cipher (secret diplomatic communication).

Following the publishing of a supposedly authentic copy of the secret cable by the US media website The Intercept, Khan has recently come under heightened scrutiny as many inside the former administration headed by Shehbaz Sharif accuse him of being the leaker.

Qureshi, a 67-year-old former foreign minister and vice chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was detained on August 19 under the Official Secrets Act for breaching the confidentiality of a cable transmitted to the foreign office from the Pakistani embassy in the US while he was the foreign minister.

Imran Khan, the former prime minister of Pakistan, and Shah Mahmood Qureshi had their post-arrest bail hearings in the diplomatic cipher case postponed by a special court here until the IHC rules on a jurisdictional challenge, according to the Express Tribune.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Khan, 70, appeals against the denial of his pre-arrest bail applications in seven distinct instances will be heard by the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday.

Khan, who led the nation as prime minister from April of last year till now, is now dealing with around 180 cases. These charges mostly relate to actions that took place after the Lahore corps commander’s home was ransacked on May 9.

Khan has also included the superintendent of the Attock prison as a respondent in his petitions, which were delivered by Barrister Salman Safdar.

He claims that his failure to appear in court after being found guilty in the Toshakhana case on August 5 is what caused his bail requests to be rejected. The ex-cricketer-turned-politician requests that his bail requests be fairly evaluated on their grounds.

The prosecution informed Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain of the Islamabad ATC-1 during an in-camera hearing that Khan had contested both the special court’s jurisdiction and his imprisonment trial in the IHC. Judge Zulqarnain was recently appointed as a judge of a special court handling cases under the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

The court instructed PTI attorneys to wait for the IHC’s ruling before making any decisions about bail. It further suggested that the bail petitions be withdrawn and resubmitted after the IHC’s decision. On Monday, a hearing will be held to discuss the bail petitions of both accused.

Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan’s inclusion in a probe into four distinct allegations brought against them after occurrences on May 9 has also been ordered by an ATC in Lahore.

Aleema and Uzma showed up in Judge Abher Gul’s ATC after their temporary bail ran out. The court ordered the investigating officers to swiftly grant their three-month-old request for inclusion in the probe after expressing a desire to wrap up the matter and get the investigation report.