Cipher is criminal case and we can’t rely on assumptions, IHC CJ tells FIA

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) told the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday that the coded cipher had been received through an email, which could still be found at the Foreign Office.

IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq pointed out that this is a criminal case and the court cannot rely on assumptions, so the FIA has to explain clearly. The court also pointed out that the content of the document that was misused by the accused has not come on record.

Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb remarked that nobody knows what the actual text of the cipher is, but it has been claimed that it has benefited the enemy.

Chief Justice Farooq and Justice Aurangzeb were hearing the appeal against the conviction of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) founder Imran Khan and former vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the cipher case.

The superintendent of the Adiala Jail could not submit the report in compliance with the court’s order, so he was ordered to produce the report on the next date of hearing.

Addressing the Islamabad attorney general, the chief justice said that the order was issued on Wednesday but copies of the CVs of the state counsel appointed for the appellants have still not been provided.

The AG said he could not get a copy of the court order. The chief justice said that the order was written in the presence of the AG who was not taking the court order seriously.

The chief justice remarked that the cipher was received via email in coded language. Justice Aurangzeb asked if the original cipher is still available at the FO.

The FIA’s Prosecutor Hamid Ali Shah said that the original copy of the cipher should be available at the FO. The chief justice told the prosecutor that he should give a clear answer.

Barrister Salman Safdar said the foreign secretary was the competent authority who appointed the persons to distribute the copies of the cipher. He said the coded email was decoded and sent as copies.

Justice Aurangzeb asked if the PTI’s founder had access to the code at any stage. Barrister Safdar said that neither was there any access nor is this an FIA case.

He said that the secret code is changed every fortnight. He pointed out that the cipher security had no access to the secret code, so how was the system compromised. He remarked that some links are missing in it.

Justice Aurangzeb said that the text of the cipher is not before the judges, the prosecution or the lawyers of the accused. Barrister Safdar said that according to the FO’s witness Shamoon, the original cipher is at the FO. The word ‘cipher’ has been wrongly used in the FIR, he added.

He also said the cipher stopped at the FO, and the plain text of the decoded copy went ahead and was discarded on return.

The court said it is hearing the appeal, so it has to see the legal position of the trial court’s decision, adding that neither the judge nor the prosecution was shown that document. Further hearing on the appeals will be held on Tuesday (today).