International Desk: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan was ordered to remain in custody until September 13 in the cipher case, which was heard by the special court established under the Official Secrets Act.
Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain announced the ruling in the case of the lost cipher, a secret government document that Khan had waved during a political rally before his impeachment last year. The judge came to the jail to conduct the hearing.
Following permission from the Law Ministry and amid security issues raised by the Interior Ministry, the case was heard at the Attock District Jail.
Since his conviction in the Toshakhana case on August 5 for failing to properly register gifts he received while in government, Khan has been detained at the aforementioned jail.
A lower court’s decision to sentence him to three years in prison and punish him Rs100,000 was reversed by the Islamabad High Court a day earlier, preventing him from running in the next elections.
According to sources, Khan’s five-member legal team, led by Advocate Salman Safdar, was present during the court hearing inside the prison.
The legal team representing the PTI chief, which consists of Naeem Haider Panjotha, Salman Safdar, Intizar Panjotha, Ali Ijaz Buttar, and Umair Niazi, was first denied permission to visit Khan but was subsequently given access to the prison.
Only Safdar had previously been allowed entry to the Attock prison grounds by the authorities.
However, Buttar, one of Khan’s lawyers, questioned the former prime minister’s detention.
“We have a lot of queries. When was the PTI chief put behind bars? He questioned, “How was the remand made feasible without informing the party chief and his lawyers?