£190m NCA case: IHC to fix Imran, Qureshi bail pleas hearing tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Aamer Farooq has confirmed to Imran Khan’s defence lawyer that he would fix the hearing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founderImran Khan and Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s bail pleas in the £190m NCA scandal case a day after tomorrow (May 8).

A two-member bench of the IHC — comprising Chief Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb — heard the appeals against the conviction of both PTI politicians in the cipher case on Monday. The former prime minister and the former foreign minister had been sentenced in the said case on January 30 earlier this year.

At the outset of the hearing, defence lawyer Latif Khosa told the IHC chief justice that the hearing of bail petitions in the NCA scandal case was still pending. To this, CJ Farooq remarked that he would fix the hearing on May 8 as the previous cause list was suspended owing to his sickness. He added that he was not in good health even today but conducting today’s hearing due to the importance of the cipher case.

The FIA prosecutor Hamid Ali Shah also appeared in the hearing. He apprised the high court bench that all cipher telegrams with “classified stamp” are disposed of after six months, even if they are “declassified”. The National Security Committee (NSC) had decided to issue a demarche on March 31, which marked the completion of the prescribed procedure for the classified document, except for sending back its copies to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hamid said. He apprised the court that all cipher copies were sent back to the foreign ministry, except the one with the former prime minister Khan. Later, the foreign office disposed of all copies of the classified telegram, he added.

“Can an accused be defended in the absence of a defence lawyer or it would lessen the importance of the defendant’s testimony?” questioned CJ Farooq. The FIA prosecutor replied that there was no need for the defence lawyer’s presence during a testimony under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The IHC CJ also questioned the legality of the sentence on both charges of “willful” and “negligent” loss of the classified document. The FIA prosecutor defended the outcome as both charges would be imposed on the accused persons’ moves on separate occasions. He went on the say that the diplomatic cable cannot be removed from its dedicated place as the authorities need to make special security arrangements for the container where the cipher is placed. Justice Aurangzeb questioned whether ex-PM Khan’s principal secretary Azam Khan personally signed the confirmation receipt after receiving the classified document. To this, the prosecutor replied that Azam’s staff had done so and later, he handed over the same copy to the former premier.

PTI’s Hamid Khan Advocate told the IHC that he will conclude his arguments this week. The high court observed that the case outcomes should be treated separately, if the defendant is acquitted or penalised in one scenario then it should be meant to be fully acquittal or penalised in other scenarios. Later, the IHC adjourned the hearing till Wednesday, May 8.