Islamabad, Sep 3: A special Pakistani court has postponed the hearing of post-arrest bail applications of former prime minister Imran Khan and his close aide Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a case related to the alleged disclosure of state secrets till the Islamabad High Court decides a plea challenging the court’s jurisdiction.
The purported cipher (secret diplomatic cable) contained 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 envoy Asad Majeed Khan last year.
Of late, Khan has come under increased scrutiny following the publication of a purported copy of the secret cable by the US media outlet The Intercept, with many in the previous government led by Shehbaz Sharif pointing fingers at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief for being the source of the leak.
Qureshi, 67-year-old former foreign minister and PTI Vice Chairman, was arrested on August 19 under the Official Secrets Act for violating the secrecy of the official cable sent by the Pakistani embassy in the US to the foreign office when he was the foreign minister.
A special court here has postponed the hearing of post-arrest bail applications submitted by Pakistan’s former prime minister Khan and his close aide Qureshi in the diplomatic cipher case till the IHC decides a plea challenging the court’s jurisdiction, the Express Tribune reported.
Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court will address petitions on Monday filed by Khan against the rejection of his pre-arrest bail applications in seven different cases.
Khan currently faces around 180 cases. These cases primarily stem from incidents that occurred following the sacking of the Lahore corps commander’s house on May 9.
In these petitions, presented by Barrister Salman Safdar, Khan has also named the Attock jail superintendent as a respondent.
He argues that his bail applications were dismissed due to his non-appearance in court after being convicted in the Toshakhana case on August 5. The cricketer-turned-politician seeks a fair consideration of his bail applications on their merits. (PTI)
