ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC), Thursday, clubbed Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan’s petitions related to the cipher case against him.

A single bench of Chief Justice Aamir Farooq clubbed the petitions saying that the hearing will be held before October 17, the date of indictment of Imran given by the trial court in the cipher case.

During the hearing, Khan’s counsel Sardar Latif Khosa advocate appeared before the court and requested the court to stay the ongoing trial and quash the case.

He contended that the matter about the cipher case was in the high court while the Lahore High Court (LHC) has also issued a stay in a case filed by the FIA in this regard. In this situation, he requested the court to suspend the trial court’s proceedings and stop it from indicting the former prime minister in this matter.

Khosa said that his team repeatedly urged the trial court that the matter should not be decided in haste as the case was already in the high court but it fixed October 17 as a date to indict Imran in the case.

He reiterated that he had urged the special court “not to hurry” as the matter was pending before the high court. He added that he had “plenty of concerns” regarding the application of the Official Secrets Act in the case and the charges framed against the former premier.

He asked that what security was compromised or which secrecy was leaked while citing the example of former president Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He said, “My client is a national hero and the world knows that he is innocent yet imprisoned.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023