The trial judge was instructed to reconsider Imran’s bail arguments

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) dismissed Monday the trial court’s judgment to revoke the PTI Chairman’s pre-arrest bails in nine cases due to non-pursuance.

The decision concerning the PTI chairman’s appeal was made public by a two-judge panel that included Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri. The bail requests would be treated as pending, the court stated, and the trial court would make a decision after hearing them once more. The legal team for the PTI had appealed the IHC decision.

You could mention it here. The PTI leader’s interim bail petitions were denied by the Additional District and Session Court in six instances, and three bail petitions were terminated by the Anti-Terrorism Court for failing to be pursued after his detention in the Toshakhana case. The cases were related to the May 3 disturbances, section 144 violations, and protests in the capital.

In the meantime, the IHC reserved judgment on the FIA plea calling for an in-camera hearing on Chairman PTI’s bail request in the cipher case. Chairman PTI’s post-arrest bail request and the FIA’s case were both heard in private by Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.

The Official Secrets Act accused’s trial could not be held in public, according to Special Prosecutor FIA Shah Khawar Advocate. He stated that because the prosecution had to provide certain delicate information to the court, the hearing on the bail petition could possibly take place behind closed doors. A public hearing in this case, according to the prosecutor, would have an impact on certain nations’ diplomatic ties.

Former foreign secretaries Asad Majeed, Sohail Mehmood, and Additional Foreign Secretary Faisal Niaz Timrizi are among the witnesses. Azam Khan, formerly Imran’s principal secretary, has been identified as a witness, and the charge sheet includes his evidence in accordance with Sections 161 and 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Imran and Qureshi will likely receive copies of the charge sheet at the upcoming court hearing, according to sources. After then, the accused will be indicted by the court. In response to the accusation sheet, the PTI spokesperson “unequivocally dismissed the FIA claims, terming the document as “devoid of substance.” He claimed that the accusations were “as hollow as the purported cipher case itself”.