IHC issues stay order on cipher case trial against Imran Khan

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday issued a stay order against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s jail trial in the cipher case. A two-member bench, comprising Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz, announced the decision during the hearing of the PTI chief’s intra-court appeal against trial in Adiala jail. The development comes after the caretaker federal cabinet on Monday approved the jail trial of the former prime minister and PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the case. The cabinet gave its assent to the summary by the Ministry of Law regarding the former prime minister and foreign minister’s trial in the Adiala jail due to security concerns. The deposed prime minister — who was ousted from office following a no-confidence motion in April last year — had moved IHC against the jail trial which was rejected by the court’s single bench on October 16. The single bench, led by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, announced no apparent malice behind conducting Khan’s jail trial in the cipher case, the court’s verdict read and directed him to approach the trial court if reservations persist. Later, Khan filed an intra-court appeal against the single bench’s decision.