IHC nullifies special court's in-camera proceedings in cipher case after December 14

• High court withdraws stay on special court hearings in cipher case. 
• AGP assures court witnesses’ statements would be recorded afresh.
• IHC says special court's December 14 order "not in accord with law".

ISLAMABAD: In a legal victory for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday set aside the orders of an in-camera trial of former party chairman Imran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in cipher case, declaring all proceedings after December 14, 2023, invalid.

A special court established under the Official Secrets Act 2023 on December 14  decided to hold in-camera proceedings of the high-profile case at Adiala jail while allowing the Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) plea, following the two politicians' indictment.

However, Khan appealed his indictment, proceedings and gag order in the IHC, which later issued a stay on his in-camera trial in the cipher case till January 11, 2024, citing “legal errors” in the case.

Earlier today, as it reached its expiry, a single bench comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb revoked the stay order and nullified all the special court's proceedings after December 14.

The development came after the Attorney General for Pakistan assured the witnesses’ statements would be recorded afresh.

AGP Usman Awan, who appeared before the court upon being summoned, told the court that 13 witnesses were ready to have their statements recorded again.

Later, Justice Aurangzeb issued a five-page order, stating that the AGP apprised the court that the special court's December 14 order "is not in accord with the law".

The IHC, in its order, set aside the special court's order and declared all the proceedings after December 14 "to be of no legal consequence".

It may be noted that two PTI leaders accused of an offence related to the alleged misuse of diplomatic cable for political purposes have been indicted twice in the case and pleaded not guilty in both instances.

The trial was started afresh on December 14  following the framing of charges against Khan and Qureshi for the second time on December 13.

What is ciphergate?

The controversy first emerged on March 27, 2022, when Imran Khan — less than a month before his ouster in April 2022 — while addressing a public rally waved a letter before the crowd, claiming that it was a cipher from a foreign nation that had conspired with his political rivals to have PTI government overthrown.

He did not reveal the contents of the letter nor did he mention the name of the nation it came from. But a few days later, he accused the United States of conspiring against him and alleged that Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu had sought his removal.

The cipher was about former Pakistan ambassador to the US Majeed's meeting with Lu.

The former prime minister, claiming that he was reading contents from the cipher, said that "all will be forgiven for Pakistan if Imran Khan is removed from power".

Then on March 31, the National Security Committee (NSC) took up the matter and decided to issue a "strong demarche" to the US for its "blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan".

Later, after his removal, then-prime minister Shehbaz Sharif convened a meeting of the NSC, which came to the conclusion that it had found no evidence of a foreign conspiracy in the cable.

In the two audio leaks that took the internet by storm and shocked the public after these events, the former prime minister, then-federal minister Asad Umar, and then-principle secretary Azam could allegedly be heard discussing the US cipher and how to use it to their advantage.

On September 30, the federal cabinet took notice of the matter and constituted a committee to probe the contents of the audio leaks.

In October, the cabinet gave the green signal to initiate action against the former prime minister and handed over the case to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Once the FIA was given the task to probe the matter, it summoned Khan, Umar, and other leaders of the party, but the PTI chief challenged the summons and secured a stay order from the court.

The Lahore High Court (LHC), in July this year, recalled the stay order against the call-up notice to Khan by the FIA.